LOS ANGELS.–President Donald Trump, 78, and 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plan to sign a rare earth mineral deal establishing an investment fund that could make billions possibly trillions in a joint venture binding Ukraine to the U.S. for years to come. Forming a new investment fund based on refining Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, it should provide reconstruction funds as Ukraine recovers from his demolished infrastructure and battered economy. Trump wanted a way to repay the United States for all the cash-and-weapons given to Ukraine for years. Zelensky wanted Trump to commit security guarantees, either boots on the ground or some other arrangement to assure that Russia will not resume its war with Ukraine. After initially rejected the deal for its lack of security guarantees, Zelensky realized that the joint venture with U.S. automatically ties Ukraine to the U.S.
Zelensky was feuding publicly with Trump only a few weeks ago giving the fake news plenty to write about, accusing Trump of selling Ukraine down the river. GOP members of Congress warned Trump of giving away too much to 72-year-old President Vladimir Putin in peace talks currently underway. Zelensky actually told the Munich Security Conference that Trump was no longer committed to European security, claiming Trump had fallen into Putin’s “disinformation space.” Zelensky remarks didn’t go over well with Trump, prompting Polish President Andrzej Duda to tell Zelensky to chill out and trust Trump to get him the best peace deal with Putin. Agreeing to come to the White House to sign a multiyear rare earth mineral deal speaks volumes about how far Zelensky has come around. Trump finds himself meeting with big Ukraine backer U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer today.
Starmer, who’s the first country to offer British troops as peacekeepers in a post-war Ukraine, hasn’t caught up to the reality that Trump has reset U.S.-Russian relations. However far the U.K. and EU have drifted away from the Kremlin, Trump has pulled the U.S. back to normal diplomatic relations. Putin said today to a FSB [formerly KGB] meeting that the U.K. and EU were opposed to Trump restoring normal diplomatic relations with Russia. Whatever Zelensky’s concerns about security, he’s satisfied with some of the language in the deal. Contract language says the U.S. “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace,” stating that the U.S. has “a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prospers Ukraine,” all leading Zelensky to sign the deal. Whatever the reservations last week, it’s no longer a stumbling block today.
Trump’s single-handed attempt to restore U.S.-Russian has blown a lot of minds in the U.S. and EU, unable to pivot to Trump’s new foreign policy. Restoring normal relations with Moscow, Trump puts pressure on the EU to reconsider its anti-Putin stance. EU officials bought hook, line and sinker, Biden’s misleading narrative about Putin representing an existential threat to the EU. Zelensky didn’t help joining Biden in pushing the fake narrative that Putin wanted to takeover more EU or NATO countries. Putin denied the accusations, telling former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson Feb. 7, 2024 that he had no intent of expanding to other EU or NATO countries. Putin confirmed he wanted the U.S. to stop supplying Ukraine lethal weapons, something Zelensky wants Trump to answer. Trump might be reluctant to supply Zelensky more U.S. weapons.
Restoring normal diplomatic relations means that Trump no longer backs proxy war against the Kremlin. Zelensky wants Trump to sell Ukraine more weapons, something Trump could have problem with given he’s resetting normal U.S.-Russian relations. Zelensky will sign an agreement revenues go to the fund for reconstructing Ukraine, not transferred to repay past debts for funding the government and war over the last three years. Nothing in the deal says that Ukraine must pay $500 billion as Trump originally asked for, only that joint revenues from rare earth mineral sales would go into the fund. “We are not debtors,” Zelensky said, regarding any funds once paid to Ukraine for the Kiev government or war with the Kremlin. “There were no such agreements in the past, so there is nothing to discuss in this regard,” Zelensky said, that Ukraine is not taking out loans with the U.S.
EU officials must be shaking there heads that they’ve been badly out negotiated by Trump, jumping on the opportunity to set up a long-term rare earth mineral deal in Ukraine. Putin seems supportive of the deal too, telling Trump that the U.S. could continue its mining in areas currently under Russian control. Putin wants to move ahead to normalize relations with the U.S. but, more importantly, end the crippling economic sanctions, including the Russian oil embargo, that cost the Russian economy so dearly. Putin wants to ride Trump’s overtures to return to the G7 and G20, once again part of global economic markets. So, when it comes to security assurances, Zelensky gets the best assurance possible to know that Putin wants a peaceful, prosperous long-term relationship with the U.S. Gone are the days with Biden funding proxy war and threatening Russian sovereignty.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
