Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment.

Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.

The officials argued that they had negotiated far more favourable terms and depicted the deal as a way of broadening the relationship with the US to shore up Ukraine’s prospects after three years of war.

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  • TheCriticalMember@aussie.zone
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    20 hours ago

    FFS. So the US successfully extorted Ukraine. World leaders need to stop fucking doing business with trump. Shit like this just makes him worse.

    And the idea that this will keep the US in their corner is beyond stupid. He’ll be demanding more within a month. Fuck trump and fuck America.

      • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The US has the special ability to blame all bad things on their current president and definitely not the country as a whole.

        Contrary to every other country in the world.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      If Trump renegs the US gets nothing. This is awful but the real politik is probably that this is the best solution Ukraine can access that stops the violence.

      And it’s possible Zelensky is planning to reneg on the deal as soon as Trump is out if America can accomplish that.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Zelensky should absolutely reneg. In his shoes, I’d sign about anything, but I’d also be willing to tell the US to fuck off in the end.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.

    … then what, exactly, remains in the deal?

    Ukrainian officials added that the deal was just a “framework agreement” and that no revenues would change hands until the fund was in place, allowing them time to iron out any potential disagreements. Among the outstanding issues is to agree the jurisdiction of the agreement.

    I can’t help but still feel this is a bad idea.

    • breakfastmtn@lemmy.caOP
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      1 day ago

      I can’t help but still feel this is a bad idea.

      Totally. But Ukraine’s in an impossible situation. The US running a protection racket is fucking disgusting.

      • Madison420@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        A protection racket involves actual protection though, the USA has specifically said no security agreements will be made.

        I’m not sure wtf Ukraine is giving them rights for.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        It is disgusting, but I also don’t see what Ukraine gets out of this. It’s not a protection racket if protection isn’t provided in exchange. I don’t know that I would even rightly call it extortion, since I don’t think Ukraine signing this will affect Trump’s behavior as a Putinist puppet.

        I hope the stress and necessity of looking after his own country during wartime, not to mention dozens of other national leaders, hasn’t led Zelensky or his team to underestimate just how ghoulish and empty Trump is, or how fucked US politics are at the moment, if they’re hoping for a “Come to Jesus” moment from the GOP or judiciary if Trump blatantly turns against Ukraine.

        • breakfastmtn@lemmy.caOP
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          I’m sure they know exactly who and what Trump is. I don’t think it’ll change Trump’s behaviour either. I’m assuming they’re just gambling against the odds that it will because the near future without the US is much harder for Ukraine than it is with them.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Technically, that’d be essentially no different of an agreement than not having a cease fire at all…

      While I think this is absolutely exploitative I think one reason Zelensky is agreeing is because the US getting access to those minerals is dependent on ensuring independence (or else making an arrangement with Russia which the US could do without even setting up this cease fire pretense)

      It actually opens the door to Ukraine reneging on the deal as soon as Trump is out of office and then working towards a more equitable cease fire. I’d view this cease fire as a stop gap to stem the bleeding.

      • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 day ago

        I agree Ukraine could pull the deal after Trump but, that is a big could. In the mean time Putin could still put a hit on Zelensky. The US and Russia will claim they dont know anything. Putin then could dog walk Trump again bc he wont stand up to Putin.

        I hope Im so wrong that I get dunked on but I dont trust anyone involved. I just hope Zelensky is save and Ukraine is independent.

        Fuck Trump, Fuck Putin, fuck them as presidents and leaders and if anyone is down with them, then fuck you too.

        • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          To be perfectly frank. I think Zelensky has done an excellent job for Ukraine and I would hope he has a chance to retire and enjoy life… no matter what he does for the rest of his life, while Putin is alive (and likely afterwards) he’ll have a target on his back and it’s fucking astounding he’s survived as long as he has. If you’ve seen pictures of him landing in Davos it’s pretty clear he’s aware that snipers could be literally anywhere.

          If Ukraine is fully dependent on Zelensky surviving for their future sovereignty they’re on the thinnest of ice. I personally hope that Verkhovna Rava is majority on the same page because one mortal’s life is far too fragile to stake freedom on.