Summary
Ukraine is hesitating to sign a U.S.-backed deal that would grant American companies access to 50% of its rare earth minerals in exchange for continued military support.
President Zelenskyy cited legal concerns and the lack of security guarantees.
The deal, pushed by Trump allies, aims to showcase Ukraine’s value to U.S. interests while reducing reliance on Chinese minerals.
However, Kyiv’s 2021 strategic partnership with the EU complicates negotiations, as European leaders resist surrendering shared resources to Washington. Talks remain ongoing.
Hahahaha.
Dude, like half the reason of this war is about control over Ukraine’s resources.
It’s like his version of Putin’s special military operation.
Special wartime profiteering?
not worth the paper it was printed on
The audacity to frame resource extraction as “aid” would be impressive if it weren’t so transparent. Ukraine’s rare earth minerals aren’t collateral for loans—they’re the spoils of geopolitical brinkmanship, dressed in the rotting corpse of diplomacy.
Trump’s team operates like feudal overlords, demanding tribute from a nation under siege. Those minerals power everything from missiles to smartphones. Calling this a “reimbursement” is like mugging a drowning man and calling it debt collection.
Now they’re floating troop deployments to “guard” these assets? Please. This isn’t peacekeeping—it’s a protection racket, ensuring the extraction pipeline stays open while the propaganda machine spins conquest as charity.
Fuck, everyone has been giving us communists shit for the past 8 decades for explaining this is the exact way that imperialist powers operate in their colonies. Maybe we all will finally understand now that the Ukraine war was never a conflict of Russian expansionism vs Ukrainian national defence, but an imperialist proxy war between US and Russia?
If you’re being reductive to the point where you’re ignoring the importance of sovereignty and democracy, then it’s fair game to reduce communism to being just about some college kids that think Che Guevara T-Shirts look cool.
So it’s reductive to talk about imperialist wars, but not about “Russia want territory, Ukraine rightful defense”? Wanna talk sovereignty and democracy? We could start way back with Euromaidan. Funny how spontaneous and disorganised protests outside US-influence end up with pro-US regime changes, whereas huge protests movements lasting years such as the Occupy movement in the US, the Gilets Jeunes in France or the 15-M in Spain end up in nothing. I guess we don’t question democracy and sovereignty in these instances now, do we? No complex analysis to be had there
Trump’s team operates like feudal overlords, demanding tribute from a nation under
That’s a very apt analogy. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but Trump’s demands so far remind me of his stupid nonsense about making Mexico pay for his wall back in 2016.
He honestly thinks everyone’s just going to lay down.
He operates under the assumption that audacity equals strategy, as if shouting demands into the void will make them manifest. The “Mexico will pay for it” fiasco was the prototype: a hollow threat wrapped in nationalist theater. It’s not about anyone laying down; it’s about how long they can keep up the charade before the cracks show.
The real tragedy is that these tactics aren’t even subtle. It’s all brute force masquerading as diplomacy, a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed. People see through it, but the machine churns on, feeding on apathy and short memories. The question isn’t whether anyone lays down—it’s whether anyone stands up long enough to matter.
I figured it was more like the tributary system in imperial China
China usually gave gifts back to those states which was much more valuable than the tribute itself. Koreans were famously abusing it by sending tribute multiple times a year. China had to put a limit on them because it became a problem.
That’s a fair analogy, but even the tributary system had a veneer of mutual benefit—imperial China at least pretended to offer cultural or economic exchange. This? It’s pure extraction with none of the pretense.
The modern empire doesn’t bother with subtlety; it just calls the theft “aid” and expects applause. At least the tributary states got to keep their sovereignty on paper. Here, sovereignty is collateral damage in the race for resources.
What we’re witnessing isn’t just imperialism; it’s a corporate feudalism where nations are reduced to resource farms for the highest bidder. The tributary system had rituals; this has press releases.
Good point, I would have said technofuedalism, but yours is probably more apt, and describes Curtis Yarvins vision more appropriately
hand over half its mineral wealth, no? “agreement to hand over half of his country’s rare earth minerals”
even mild half-lie clickbait is brain-stupifying misimplication.
from what i understand most of the resource heavy regions of ukraine are in the east/controlled by russia- that most of these minerals are not even of cost-effective value to mine and obtain…
but then, what do i know, all i see is mere cracks in the western monoculture narrative of ‘russia bad’.
zelensky wants security guarantees. seems security guarantees are in short supply-- nobody gave any thought to russia’s priority for same.
This is the dumbest take.
go on and explain why.
lazy, trite, tired… you are the kind of person who offers nothing to any conversation. its your business for you to commit to being wrong and play to the bots and brainwashed dimwits… you’re everything you pretend to hate about your political counterparts in america.
i wrote my piece and was dismissed, you think this is a clever trick
wait til you read marx
Have you seen the prices for oats these days!?
this reply is deeply concerning
Ukraine gave up its nukes in exchange for security guarantees. Why would they trust this attempt at pillaging for “security”?
you seem not to understand that the reason zelensky is turning down the deal is in part BECAUSE of the lack of security guarantees… can’t even keep the narrative straight in your head
the ‘deal’ the diaper is working on between him and ukraine is a sham.
i think the real ‘deal’ is between him and putin: ‘give us (me) half of some of the goodies there and we’ll not stand in your way to take the whole thing’
I agree that the deal is a sham, but I think the goal was to present a deal so obviously unacceptable to Ukraine that they would be bound to refuse and Trump can then point to it and say Ukraine is uncooperative therefore he can refuse to support them any further.
Ukraine got used to weaken Putin and now the US sweeps in and recoups the cost for free. Ukrainians lose part of their country to Russia and hand over the minerals of the other half to America.
Imagine being Ukrainian and having died for this.
Being a US enemy is bad. Being a US ally is deadly
Handover the mineral wealth in Crimea and other occupied areas subject to them being under Ukrainian control but leave mineral wealth in free Ukraine out of the deal to provide some motivation for Dopey Donald.
Seriously. The biggest deposit is sitting in occupied land…
The biggest deposit is currently sitting in the White House.
At this point I wonder who is worse Trump or Putin.
Wasn’t the US supporting a genocide until like a month ago? Is this question really only popping right now in your head?
Both are worse than the other.
EU could just make him a better deal?
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Require enough support from the US to push out Russia completely out of ALL occupied territories, including Crimea.
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Require full and permanent membership of NATO
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Allow access to 25% and only from uninhabited areas that aren’t nature reserves. Leave it up to the US to pillage and destroy the country completely
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Trumps idea here is much more than the usual Trump stupidity. First, Trump gets fat mineral rights for doing about nothing. The Ukraine loses 20% of its original (pre-2014) size, but gains no real security like a NATO membership. And the Europeans should work and pay for all this, while having no say in the whole thing.
This is no deal, this is rape.
You’re one hundred percent correct aside from:
theUkraine.
