this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2025
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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.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

You’re one hundred percent correct aside from:

~~the~~ Ukraine.

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

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?

[–] teamevil@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

DONT SIGN SHUT from the Orange Retard

[–] meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works 118 points 1 week ago (5 children)

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.

[–] Geobloke@lemm.ee 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I figured it was more like the tributary system in imperial China

[–] meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] laolin@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

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.

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[–] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 52 points 1 week ago (38 children)

Poor Ukraine. One side wants to kill them all and steal the land, another side wants to rape its land, not to mention bordering Belarus, Slovakia and Hungary who are the bitches of Putin. We live in a sad reality

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] volodya_ilich@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago

Being a US enemy is bad. Being a US ally is deadly

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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'

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] SilentKettle@lemmy.wtf 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Seriously. The biggest deposit is sitting in occupied land...

[–] WhyFlip@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

The biggest deposit is currently sitting in the White House.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What happens if he signs the deal, gets the aid, beats Russia back and reneges? Serious question.

"American warship, go fuck yourself."

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 23 points 1 week ago (6 children)

The US already abandoned their promise to protect Ukraine from a Russian invasion after they agreed to give up their nuclear arsenal, so I can't imagine why they would trust us this time especially with a nutjob like Trump at the helm.

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[–] perestroika@lemm.ee 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Like a reasonable person who sees a proposal with huge future impact - he is likely consulting lawyers ("is this permissible by law?") and other politicians ("is this a good move currently or strategically?").

Then comes time to present counter-proposals. One of them may be "we get considerably more help from Europe and they don't ask for half of the country's minerals - on this background, let's revise assistance and security guarantees upwards".

Trump's current proposal is such a poorly chosen one that one could show it to Xi and ask "for this extreme price, would you reign in your vassal named Putin, and cut exports of anything with a microchip into Russia?".

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

EU could just make him a better deal?

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago
  1. Require enough support from the US to push out Russia completely out of ALL occupied territories, including Crimea.

  2. Require full and permanent membership of NATO

  3. 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

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Just tell the US they can have any resources they can liberate from Russia. We’d have tanks at Moscow in hours.

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