Posted on 02/25/2025 8:16:35 PM PST by SeekAndFind
While President Trump has been trying to make progress on a deal to end the war in Ukraine, the US has also been negotiating a mineral rights deal designed to pay the US back for some of the support we've given Ukraine over the past three years since the Russian invasion. Today, both the US and Ukraine say a deal has been reached.
The US and Ukraine have agreed to terms on a deal over natural resources and reconstruction, according to a Ukrainian official.
The source said the terms were agreed after “everything unacceptable was taken out of the text and it is now more clearly spelt out how this agreement will contribute to Ukraine’s security and peace.”...
“I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly it’s okay with me if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal,” US President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office on Tuesday.
For the moment it seems no one knows exactly what is in the final deal. All we know is that President Zelensky had rejected a previous version of the deal.
Mr. Zelensky has been pressing for days to finalize any agreement with Mr. Trump in person. But the Ukrainian leader had rejected at least one other draft of an agreement because it lacked specific U.S. security guarantees and because Mr. Trump was requesting mineral rights worth $500 billion, along with other provisions that Ukraine considered unacceptable.
The Ukrainians became more comfortable with the deal in the past few days after the Americans removed some of the more onerous conditions.
While the final terms of the deal are not clear, a draft agreement discussed on Tuesday no longer included the demand that Ukraine contribute $500 billion to a fund owned by the United States. It also did not include a request that Ukraine pay back the United States twice the amount on any future American aid — a demand that Mr. Zelensky had compared to imposing a long-term debt on Ukraine.
Instead, both countries will contribute to a fund based on revenue from rare earth mining and some of that money would go back to Ukraine.
The exact amount spent supporting Ukraine is obviously relevant since that's the amount Trump is hoping to recoup (at least partially) through this deal. Trump has given his own figure for the amount spent which seems to be about double the actual amount based on congressional appropriations.
Trump said the U.S. has spent $350 billion toward Ukraine, though he has not cited where he's gotten that figure.
Government resources place the amount of aid appropriated by Congress for Ukraine since the war began in 2022 at $174 billion.
The Congressional Research Service backs up the $174 billion figure but the actual total may be a bit more, though not all of it has actually been spent.
Ukraine Oversight, the website of the special inspector general for Operation Atlantic Resolve created years ago to track assistance to Ukraine, states the amount set aside for Ukraine by the U.S. is a bit higher at $182 billion.
That figure includes the $174 billion appropriated by Congress and additional funds allocated from specific agencies. According to the site, $83 billion has been disbursed and another $57 billion obligated, with roughly $40 billion appropriated but not yet obligated.
In any case, $174 or $182 billion is a lot of money but it's worth keeping in mind a lot of that money was actually spent here in the US.
About $58 billion of the $183 billion in total aid for Ukraine was spent in the U.S., going directly toward boosting the U.S. defense industry, either by replacing old U.S. weapons given to Kyiv with new American-made weapons, by procuring new U.S.-made weapons for Kyiv or by making direct industrial investments.
I do wonder where Trump got this figure. Is he just doubling the actual number or is he repeating something he was told or read somewhere? Maybe there's some way to square this circle but so far I don't see anyone making even a guess what that might be. You'll probably be hearing more about all of this later in the week if President Zelensky arrives to sign the deal.
Elf Weasel will be in DC to be honored by Dems and RINO's alike and try and make Trump look bad.
Not going to end well for Z-boy.
“Zelensky To Visit”
Why visit, can’t he simply text a “Y”?
Trump admires Putin, who is a dictator.
Trump called Zelensky a dictator... And within a week invited him to the White House.
Therefore, Trump admires Zelensky.
My money is on last week’s histrionics being a tactic between both of them, to get European countries to pick up the tab for collective defense.
That , plus the ACTUAL amount that went to Ukraine now being confirmed at $100bn not $300bn, allows the USA to settle for less than a third of the $500bn originally pitched, and still recover its spending.
The other thing that’s come to light is, over half the money supposedly “grifted” never touched Ukraine. It’s the American military-industrial complex picking up replenishment/replacement contracts sooner than they would’ve done, from which the US defence benefits... and democrats skimming off the top.
Follow the money. That money is still in the USA and if it’s gone into people’s piggy banks it can be recovered from them. As for replacing obsolete kit - that’s an outsourcing grift but one you could only eliminate by bringing military production into state ownership.
Ukraine shouldn’t have to pay full price for the US giving it obsolete stuff at a wildly exaggerated value while the defense sector is making a mint on replenishing US military stocks.
I am not sure that this agreement is a good thing in the long run. If signed, the USA will now have a vested interest in those assets and will feel obligated to protect them.
If Russia surges and it appears that those assets will fall into the wrong hands, the USA will have to get boots on the ground to prevent confiscation. And, unless the European members of NATO are also receiving part of those assets, we cannot expect the Europeans to get involved in protecting them.
No way....Never.....LOL
Do I feel sorry for them?? Of course...for both countries...no matter which side...they are someone's son.
The W column keeps filling up. There’s still plenty of room for more.
Let’s start a pool to see which state the federal judge is from who temporarily blocks this.
EC
While economically beneficial, the agreement is a foreign policy mistake. Trump is sending a message that we are in this useless war only to seize control of another nation’s resources.
RE: Trump is sending a message that we are in this useless war only to seize control of another nation’s resources.
Trump is sending a message that hundreds of billions of dollars sent to Ukraine has to be PAID BACK somehow. This is NOT simply seizing a nation’s resources but HELPING ITS ECONOMY get back on its feet as well as ours.
We’re not doing this for nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.