Ukraine - There Is Nothing Left To Trade For More War Or A Peace Deal
When Donald Trump got re-elected the leadership of Ukraine was elated (archived):
[I]t comes as quite a surprise—and as an indication of just how bad things have become in the country in recent months—to learn that many senior officials [in Ukraine] were hoping for a Donald Trump victory. Faced with the choice of continued bare life-support or a wildcard president who would rip up the rules and almost certainly cut aid, they were prepared to gamble.President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to endorse the victory, and in fulsome terms. “We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter, and now run by the pro-Trump billionaire Elon Musk). This was not just spin. In private, his staff have become increasingly frustrated by what they describe as the Biden administration’s “self-deterrence”, the habit of fearing escalation with Russia to the point of paralysis, and a growing gap between the rhetoric of “standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes” and actions that suggest the opposite.
Zelenski thought that he could make deals with Trump:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal.The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort.
"If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement.
Trump agreed to take the offer but in return of nothing for it:
Trump, 78, insisted that the US should have access to Ukraine’s natural resources regardless of whether a peace deal between Russia and the former Soviet state can be successfully negotiated, arguing that the “more than $300 billion” the US has provided Ukraine dwarfs what other nations have contributed to the war effort.“They may make a deal. They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday. But we’re going to have all this money in [Ukraine] and I say, I want it back,” the president said.
“I told them that I want the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earth [minerals], and they’ve essentially agreed to do that,” Trump revealed.
There are many delusions in all of this. Those rare earth and other valuable deposits in Ukraine which are economically viable to explore have already been sold to various businessmen and international companies (machine translation):
In order for the United States to work with Ukrainian minerals, permits for the operation of deposits must be withdrawn from the current owners, in particular from the former Minister of Ecology and president of Burisma Mykola Zlochevsky.This was stated in his Telegram channel by the head of the committee. The Supreme Court Minister of Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Daniil Hetmantsev.
Before giving them to the U.S. Ukraine would have to steal those back:
"For 30 years, all permits for commercially interesting deposits have already been distributed to "respectable" people. That is, we have nothing or almost nothing to offer our partners," Hetmantsev wrote.He added that the priority issue now is to audit all mineral deposits and return them to the people. Moreover, this issue, according to Hetmantsev, should be "resolved regardless of the interests of the United States or other partners."
The whole argument from either side is thus a scam. There are no minerals for Ukraine to simply hand over to Trump. Whatever is there has already been sold or is too expensive to retrieve (see here for details (in Russian)). Moreover, there is no price Trump will accept to further support Ukraine or to hand it some guarantees.
U.S. attempts to get to some ceasefire are stillborn. Trump is unwilling to give Russia what it has demanded. Knowing that the U.S. can not to be trusted Russia is not willing to accept anything less than that:
The very short version of the argument is that top Russian officials, most visibly Putin, have taken to regularly and in very long form describing the US and Western record of duplicity, not just with Ukraine but on other fronts. This line of commentary has only become more pointed and the bill of particulars of Western treachery, longer.This means the Russians are clearly, repeatedly, and consistently saying any agreement with the West would be worthless. The obvious implication isn’t simply that there would be nothing to gain in signing one, but that it would be self-destructive to do so, since it would give Russia a false sense of security that the West would exploit, as it has again and again and again.
In other words, all of the focus on the content of a potential agreement misses the elephant in the room: the content is almost irrelevant. Russians cannot get to a process by which the perfidious West can be made trustworthy.
With talks going nowhere Trump may try to delay a Russian victory. Or he may want to dump the whole issue to Europe.
[T]hinking that Ukraine can hold out as long as early 2026 seems charitable. And given the Trump team’s apparent complete misreading of Russia’s cards, they seem vanishingly unlikely to believe how Russia can and will simply proceed to roll over Ukraine and not even break all that much of a sweat in the process.
And that’s before Trump’s outsized ego getting in the way. I don’t think he is constitutionally able to deal with Putin from a position of real weakness, which will result in further delay in setting up a meeting, and that eventual session resulting in Putin and Trump talking past each other.
There will be no peace deal.
This outcome of this war will have to be decided on the battlefield.
China Urged To End Successful Policies
In a variant of the Sowing Doubt About China - But At What Cost? propaganda scheme, the New York Times makes the (somewhat racist) claim that China lacks the capability to turn talent into innovation:
What DeepSeek’s Success Says About China’s Ability to Nurture Talent (archived) - New York Times, Feb 10 2025
The subtitle reveals the core thesis:
China produces a vast number of STEM graduates, but it hasn’t been known for innovation. Cultural and political factors may help explain why.
In a globalized world the innovation ability of a country can be measured by the number of global patents it files.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) provides data on these.

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China, which the NYT says is not known for innovation, is by far leading the pack.
Cont. reading: China Urged To End Successful Policies
Palestine Open Thread 2025-029
News & views related to the war in Palestine ...
Ukraine Open Thread 2025-028
News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...
The MoA Week In Review - OT 2025-027
Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:
- Feb 3 - Thoughts On Musk's Raid Of USAID
- Feb 8 - Mainstream Media Boost 'Independent' Media Which Depend On U.S. Assistance
Related:
- USAID Funded Censorship, Smears of Americans - Lee Fang
- Musk’s digital coup in Washington: Effects and prospects - Helena Cobban
- Why did Republicans fund ‘transgender dance’ in Bangladesh? - Grayzone
- Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lama’s brother and towering figure in Tibet, dies (archived) - Washington Post
He moved among world capitals over decades, toiling to create the conditions for the exiled Dalai Lama to return to his homeland. He also helped the CIA mount a failed uprising in China.
- Feb 4 - Lavrov vs. Rubio On Multipolarity
Related:
- NATO Expansionism and the Collapse of Pan-European Security - Glenn Diesen
- Sharp Turns and Continuity in Donald Trump’s Policy - Konstantin Khudoley / Valdai Club
- How Trump’s Bluntness Shatters the Liberal World Order - Fyodor Lukyanov / Global Affairs
- Russia Versus Outlaw US Empire: Staying With The Plan Versus Repurposing - Karl Sanchez
- Sweden says latest Baltic Sea cable cut was not sabotage (None of them were.) - Politico
- Feb 5 - Trump Wants To Take Over Gaza, Announces 500,000 Dead
Related:
- Army was ordered to kill Israelis on 7 October, defense minister confirms - Electronic Intifada
- Bomb the area, gas the tunnels: Israel’s unbridled war on Gaza’s underground - 972 mag
- Despite Shocking Gaza Plan, 'Netanyahu Didn't Get Anything He Wanted in His Meeting With Trump' - Haaretz
> Pinkas told host Allison Kaplan Sommer that the firestorm over Trump's desire to "own" and "take control" of Gaza and relocate its 2 million residents, overshadowed the fact that Netanyahu clearly failed in his attempt to convince the U.S. president to back out of the cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
...
"When you look at the reality sitcom that took place in the White House on Tuesday, was there any mention of Saudi normalization that you recalled? There wasn't," said Pinkas, "Was there any allusion to an attack on Iran? There wasn't. Was there any reference to Trump understanding that the Israelis need to completely annihilate Hamas after 16 months of not doing so? There wasn't." <
- Feb 6 - Ukraine - Intensity Of War Has Decreased
Related:
- Trump reveals he’s spoken with Putin by phone, ... - NY Post
- How wars end… and why Ukraine’s may drag on - Asia Times
- Glenn Diesen - The Ukraine War and the Eurasian World Order (video) - Jeffrey Sachs
- As Ukraine struggles to field soldiers, recruitment centers are attacked (archived) - Washington Post
- Feb 7 - Who Else Wants Access To Apple Users' Encrypted Data?
Related:
- Craig Murray: UN Censures UK Abuse of Terrorism Act - Consortium News
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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2025-027
Mainstream Media Boost 'Independent' Media Which Depend On U.S. Assistance
What is the meaning of 'independent' in English language?
independent adjective (NOT INFLUENCED)
- not influenced or controlled in any way by other people, events, or things
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th Ed.) and others:
independent /ĭn″dĭ-pĕn′dənt/ adjective
- Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
- Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant.
"an independent mind."- Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent.
"a decision independent of the outcome of the study."- Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
- Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity.
"an independent food store; an independent film."- Not relying on others for support, care, or funds; self-supporting.
- Providing or being sufficient income to enable one to live without working.
"a person of independent means."
Following the recent revelations that many outlets and journalist are financed directly or indirectly by U.S. government organization like USAID or NED the mainstream media have set out to redefine the meaning of 'independent'.
'Independent' now seem to be anyone how gets his paycheck from the U.S. while producing reports or rumors designed to fit U.S. policy narratives.
Consider these recent reports:
- USAID and the Media in a ‘Time of Monsters’ - Columbia Journalism Review, Feb 4 2025
What the aid funding freeze means for independent journalism around the world. - Foreign Strongmen Cheer as Musk Dismantles U.S. Aid Agency (archived) - New York Times, Feb 5 2025
- Strongmen celebrate as Trump aid freeze hits media - Financial Times, Feb 6 2025
- Independent media in Russia, Ukraine lose their funding with USAID freeze (archived) - Washington Post, Feb 7 2025
From the first one:
Cont. reading: Mainstream Media Boost 'Independent' Media Which Depend On U.S. Assistance
Who Else Wants Access To Apple Users' Encrypted Data?
There is, for whatever reason, little online echo so far to this new Washington Post story:
U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts (archived)
Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users.
Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.The British government’s undisclosed order, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account, and has no known precedent in major democracies.
The sole story author, Joseph Menn, is stationed in San Francisco and 'specializing on hacking, privacy and surveillance.' The 'people familiar with the matter' who talk through Menn are likely from the same wider area, i.e. from Apple in Cupertino.
The British demand is of course outrageous and will not be followed. But I wonder why the Brits would even try to go this way.
We know thanks to Edward Snowden's revelations that the British signal intelligence agency GCHQ is a mere offshoot of the U.S. National Security Agency. It may thus be that the real people trying to get access to Apple users' encrypted archives are sitting on the west coast of the Atlantic.
Or is it request coming from other structures?
Cont. reading: Who Else Wants Access To Apple Users' Encrypted Data?
Palestine Open Thread 2025-026
News & views related to the war in Palestine ...
Ukraine - Intensity Of War Has Decreased
Over the last month the war in Ukraine has become less intense.
The number of daily losses on the Ukrainian side, as provided by the Russia Ministry of Defense, has decreased from an average 2,200 per day in early November 2024 to an average of 1,600 per day in late January 2025.

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Ukraine has acknowledged that the level of violence has decreased (edited machine translation):
Cont. reading: Ukraine - Intensity Of War Has Decreased
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-025
Department of State @StateDept - 0:36 UTC · Feb 6, 2025U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.
Panama Canal authority denies changes to charge fees after US claim - Reuters - 4:30 UTC . Feb 6, 2025
PANAMA CITY, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Panama Canal Authority said in a statement late on Wednesday that it had not made any changes to charges or rights to cross the canal, after the U.S. State Department said that U.S. government vessels could transit the crossing without being subject to such fees."With total responsibility, the Panama Canal Authority, as it has indicated, is willing to establish dialogue with relevant U.S. officials regarding the transit of wartime vessels from said country," the authority said.
News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine ...