US President Donald Trump is trying to force through a new deal that would see America gain control Ukraine’s critical minerals and energy assets in a major expansion on his previous demands.
Summary
Donald Trump seeks near-total control over Ukraine’s critical minerals, energy assets, and infrastructure in a new draft deal, significantly expanding his previous demands.
The proposal, sent to Kyiv, includes no security guarantees for Ukraine, sparking concerns about sovereignty and dependence on the US.
Energy law experts called the terms unprecedented, noting the US could withdraw without obligation. Trump also suggested US control of Ukraine’s nuclear plants.
Critics warn Russia may exploit Trump’s urgency for a quick deal, complicating peace efforts and post-war stability.
It's kinda sad to see the direction the USA it's going these days. The goodwill towards the States degraded so much in the last few months in my community.
I think the world was ready to forgive the first transgression back in 2016. But he's only been in power for 2 fucking month. He's nose diving the country, and no one trusts the us anymore.
As someone from the EU. I think the US is truly fucked. Every single government organ is focusing on removing any USA dependency going from big tech to parts and resources etc. And we're not the only country doing it. The military has already decided to buy 0 new USA equipment.
I wish these guys would realize that while powerful, the US cannot just exist in a vacuum. We all share this planet and limitless greed is not gonna get you anywhere. I really hope the US product / services boycotts are gonna have an impact.
I considered Bush II to be the "first transgression" already. There are some further back too, of course, you can go back to the Gulf of Tonkin or even the USS Maine, but the Iraq invasion was the first where all the contradicting evidence was already fully available to the public if they cared to go look at it. Those "misadventures" in the Middle East and Afghanistan were where the first pebbles of this current avalanche of American collapse really started to move, IMO.
What we're seeing now is just the point of no return, where nobody's trying to stop the slide any more.
I feel like it’s quite obvious to everyone that the us is just going to demand more and more until Ukraine says no. Then the US will claim Ukraine doesn’t want peace
I think that has to be the game he and EU leaders are playing at this point. Delay as much as possible so Europe can build up its own defenses and assistant to Ukraine. Unfortunately without boots on the ground that won't work as a deterrent.
Who is kidding who? Ukraine could agree and Trump would just give it all to Putin. The guy is not an honest broker, I wish the media would stop treating him as one.
This is just the Republican/libertarian fantasy. So many people I worked with at the time thought we should have taken all the Iraqi oil after we invaded.
It’s just the evolution of what was colonialism, and before that, feudalism. These people want to be kings of territory, with ownership of all resources, charging people a tax for harvesting resources on their property and paying them a pittance to survive and do so. It’s the direct path into hyper-capitalism, of “everyone not in a very exclusive club rents their life and everything in it, in order for the wealthy to gain more wealth.”
Well this is certainly applying the M&A playbook to geopolitics. Eat the meek when they’re down. It’s just good business.
Reminds me of his “we must take the oil” strategy to Iraq a few years back.
Problem is that countries aren’t businesses, they’re people, and alliances aren't just built on finance - they’re built on trust, stability and shared cultural values.
And optics matter, even in business, you can get a reputation as a cannibal and people will no longer work for or with you. Relationships are like oxygen for business. If you don’t have them, it’s you next on the chopping block.
Ukraine should declare that they're withdrawing from the Lisbon Protocol, and will start working towards creation/procurement of nuclear weapons. Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belaruse agreed to give up their nuclear weapons, in exchange for guarantees on their border security, secured by the US and Russia. Since Russia has reneged, and the US appears to be doing the same, maybe Ukraine could bolster the "cards in their hand" by looking towards rearming. While I hate the idea of another nuclear power, Ukraine was the #3 nuclear power, between separation from the USSR and the 1992 Lisbon Protocol. Maybe their next strategic move should be to fail, like the US and Russia have.
I understand Russian concerns - Gorbachev was told, when the Berlin Wall came down, that NATO would not expand towards the Russian Border. That promise was not ratified by NATO, but was a part of the decision making process, as it was a Russian concern. NATO has expanded 12 times since then, towards the Russian Border. As mad as they might be, the answer is not to simply take back lands they gave up.
The same goes for the US. A few decades passing by, is no excuse to simply decide to not honor obligations previously entered into.
But, if everybody is just changing their minds, and simply "doing whatever we want" is on the table, I'm sure, since Ukraine supplied much of the Cold War hardware and expertise to the USSR, that manufacturing and knowledge base is still there, at least to some degree.
They probably wouldn't have to do it....mentioning the interest as a strategic consideration could be the kick in the ass needed, to help the Lisbon Protocol participants to remember their roles in the guarantees made, on the condition of giving up those nukes.
Well, Russia didn't want NATO members, and what can come with NATO membership at their borders, much like how we didn't want Soviet missiles in Cuba, in 1962. They certainly viewed their former Soviet states and bloc countries joining NATO, as an expansion of NATO.
Regardless of what looked like who, and who thought what, Russia invaded Ukraine, and they shouldn't have.
Counter-offer a small plot of land, in a minefield, on the ukrainian-russian border, currently under russian occupation. Trump can grow carrots there. But only of he can clear out the occupiers first.
I don't understand this. It's really unlikely Ukraine has so many mineral resources and even if they do, the investments needed to extract them would be huge. Wouldn't the investments alone and manpower needed be worth it for Ukraine. It's not really likely that Ukraine will be able to finance this extraction themselves?
All this assumptions rely on how I understand this deal to be structured, but I really don't know how this works.
The resources were never the point. The point is to make Ukraine refuse a "ceasefire deal" and then point at them and tell everyone they "don't want peace". It's blatantly obvious.
At first I thought this tactic with this deal would be fantastic. The US could make this deal and bring in companies and have forces there to defend the investment. It would be a really strong showing, not only to Russia but also domestic audience, but not directly.