The Trump administration wants to press Ukraine into infinite indentured servitude for payments and weapons previously delivered by the Biden administration with no conditions attached to them.
Hedge fund mogul and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent has (re-)written the 'mineral deal':
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Ukraine may sign an economic deal next week …
"We have passed along a completed document for the economic partnership (that) is currently being reviewed by Ukrainians, and we hope to go to full discussions and perhaps even get signatures next week," Bessent said.Trump said on Monday he expects a U.S.-Ukraine revenue-sharing agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals to be signed soon.
The (former) Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski acknowledged the arrival of the agreement (machine translation):
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States offered Ukraine a new version of the agreement on minerals . During the press conference , he stressed that the issue of Ukrainian nuclear power plants is not in it.
"This is a big full deal for the American side, from the steps that were taken earlier. A framework agreement, you remember, and after the framework agreement, the full agreement is developed. Now the American side has offered our side a big deal at once, their vision," Zelensky said.
The deal, see below, is anything but an 'offer'.
Zelenski should have signed the earlier 'framework agreement'. It would have allowed to later stall on the implementation. Now he will be pressed to sign on to the details.
The new 'big deal at once' is a 'horror' for Ukraine (machine translation):
A new version of the agreement on minerals between Ukraine and the United States, in which, as reported by ZN.UA, now the American side wants control not only over the extraction of rare earth metals, but all the minerals of Ukraine and the infrastructure associated with their extraction, provides for unlimited US control over Ukrainian resursans and with the right of veto of the Americans on their extraction by Ukraine. At the same time, the United States does not offer any security guarantees, and such a monopoly should be a "payment" for the already provided US assistance to Ukraine, said Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a People's Deputy of Ukraine.
"I received this document from our officials yesterday.This is not the final document. And I hope the Ukrainian side will demand and achieve significant changes to it. But the text that I saw is straight horror. All 18 sections … this is no longer a framework memorandum of intent (which was before the scandalous meeting in the Oval Office). This is a very big and very clear deal. And it is not in our direction," he wrote in his Telegram.
The legal text has 60(!) pages. Its main points, according to Zheleznyak, are these (machine translation):
- The Fund is managed by five people, three of whom are from the United States and will have full veto power;
- We are talking about all minerals, including oil, gas and undeveloped deposits throughout Ukraine;
- we are talking about mining by both public and private campaigns;
- the Fund's money will be immediately converted into foreign currency and withdrawn abroad. If suddenly, for some reason, something did not reach the Ukrainian side, Ukraine pays extra;
- US contribution – assistance already provided to us from 2022 (according to the Kiel Institute, US assistance to Ukraine in 2022-2024 is estimated at $ 119.7 billion)
- The United States can choose to make a profit. At the same time, they will receive "royalties" from the Fund first (and then Ukraine) +4%.
- The agreement will be valid indefinitely
- Changes to the agreement or its completion are only possible with the permission of the United States;
- US priority right to all new infrastructure projects and veto the sale of resources to other countries.
This 'deal' is pure extortion and robbery. It would bind Ukraine indefinitely. It would also discourage any investment in any natural deposits in Ukraine. There is no chance that any such deal will be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament.
Why wonders then: Why does the Trump administration even bother?