“It’s a sh*t sandwich,” a Trump administration official acknowledged.
“But Ukraine is going to have to eat it because [Trump] has made clear this is no longer our problem.”
Axios
The Trump administration is increasing its pressure on Ukraine’s (former) president Zelenski to swallow the shit sandwich. It offered a ‘new’ version of it which turned out to be the same as the old one:
The United States is doubling down on a demand that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure, according the document, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
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The document, which was dated Feb. 21, states that the revenues will be directed to a fund in which the United States holds 100 percent financial interest, and that Ukraine should contribute to the fund until it reaches $500 billion — the amount President Trump has demanded from the war-torn country in exchange for American aid. That is more than twice Ukraine’s gross domestic product before the war.The document does not stipulate that the United States will provide security guarantees for Ukraine in return for access to Ukrainian resources. That key demand from President Volodymyr Zelensky was absent in the first draft agreement presented to him last week, prompting him to decline to sign the deal.
There was even a threat, twice, to withdraw Starlink access from Ukraine’s army should Zelenski reject the steal:
U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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The issue was raised again on Thursday during meetings between Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special Ukraine envoy, and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, who was briefed on the talks.
Without Starlink access it will be much more difficult for the Ukrainian army to control the frontline. Ukraine’s replies to the threat were not diplomatic.
Zelenski has only himself to blame for this.
During last fall he offered his victory plan, largely a list with demands for more support. It was supposed to be rejected as it was. But one detail in the plan was supposed to tickle Trump’s interest:
The plan includes five points: one geopolitical, two military, one economical and one related to national defense and safety.
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4. Strategic economic potential. Envisages the investment of international partners in the production of critically important natural resources, such as uranium, titanium, lithium and graphite.
In early February Zelenski again pushed that idea:
KYIV, Feb 7 (Reuters) – 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.
But there are in fact no big rare earth deposits in Ukraine which are economically retrievable. All licenses for those minerals which can be recovered at a profit have already been sold.
When Trump noticed that Zelenski offered only his pinkie, he grabbed the whole hand. Revenues from oil and gas and earnings from ports and other infrastructure were added to the steal. Zelenski had set a trap and got caught in it (edited machine translation):
People’s Deputy Goncharenko said that the very idea of this deal on deposits belongs to Zelensky, who decided to offer the Americans something that Ukraine does not have, and now he does not know how to get out of this story.
“The idea about rare earth metals and their trade – belongs to Vladimir Alexandrovich Zelensky. In America, there was no such talk at all! It was our brilliant minds that came up with this idea that they would sell it to Donald Trump and he would come and say ‘okay’.
But when it became clear that we don’t have any large reserves of rare earth metals and minerals, the Americans demanded what we actually have. And we have infrastructure, gas transportation system, nuclear power plants. And here Vladimir Alexandrovich began to set conditions.
But why should we have started it in the first place? We initially received these funds from the United States for nothing. And for that we should have been grateful. We should not have talked about trillions of minerals that we don’t have. It was a lie.
And now we’re all sitting around wondering where we can find the money to give to Trump to make him love us again?
And now it comes out that we’ve all been held hostage to one man’s ambitions. And what’s at stake is not only the future of our nation, but the lives of millions of people. And all this because he was told about the 4% rating. This is tinny,” writes Goncharenko.
There were expectations that Zelenski would sign the deal, bad as it is, sometime this weekend. But it seems that he has decided to drag this out (machine translation):
The deal between Ukraine and the United States on minerals is unlikely to be signed this weekend, as previously assumed by the American media .
This follows from the statement of the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk to the Japanese NHK TV channel.
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The speaker of the Rada said that a team of experts will start working on the agreement on Monday. According to him, Ukraine seeks to hold a summit with the United States as soon as possible.
Meanwhile the White House has added a new point of contention to its relations with Ukraine:
The Trump administration has asked Ukraine to withdraw an annual [United Nations] resolution condemning Russia’s war, and wants to replace it with a toned-down U.S. statement that was perceived as being close to pro-Russian in Kyiv, according to an official and three European diplomats familiar with the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive political situation between nations that have typically acted as partners.
The suggestion stunned Kyiv, which refused to withdraw its resolution, which is set to be released on the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale anniversary on Monday.
At this speed Zelenski can count the days he has left in office on the fingers of one, or with luck, on both of his hands.