US and Ukraine sign deal to create the Reconstruction Investment Fund — the long-awaited mineral deal that gives the US rights to Ukrainian rare earth.
  • merthyr1831@lemmy.mlEnglish
    19·
    23 hours ago

    This is one of those deals that will signal to Russia that peace without victory is off the table. Once the US has a reliance on resources in Ukraine it’ll go to war to defend them, no different to the Article 5/NATO red lines given by Putin many times already.

    Of course he can’t decree what deals Ukraine signs under Zelensky, but as long as the war carries on the deal cannot materialise fully. As long as the deal cannot materialise, Russian troops can continue their slow march to Kiev and eventually topple the Zelensky regime.

    • Zetta@mander.xyzEnglish
      1·
      20 hours ago

      slow march to Kiev and eventually topple the Zelensky regime.

      They have been gaining like 0.4% of the land area per year as of late and are rapidly running out of weapons reserves used to sustain this growth. The war will go on but it’s comical to suggest Russia will get to Kiev.

      • Grapho@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        12 hours ago

        This is assuming Ukraine can sustain its current effort. With the US pulling funding and Ukraine’s military suffering from high desertion as well as the growing unpopularity of the Kiev regime, that’s far from being guaranteed.

  • nuko147@lemm.eeEnglish
    12·
    21 hours ago

    sign mineral resources agreement

    Sounds more like extortion to me.

  • SkingradGuard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    30·
    1 day ago

    It will be so funny if those old Soviet reports of mineral resources, which are very old, are wrong and the US just wasted time thinking they’ll get more resources than are there lmfao

    Edit: :zelensky-bent-the-knee:

      • Eiren (she/her)@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
        7·
        22 hours ago

        I could be badly wrong, but I imagine if the Ukraine’s resources are significant, China might discuss things with Russia behind the scenes and push for the offensive to continue. Both China and Russia need to start cutting at U.S. access to resources if they want an advantageous position in the next 10-20 years.

        This depends on the extent of the actual resources and Russia’s current military-industrial capacity, manpower, and morale, though; but keep in mind that, from the Russian perspective, Zelenskyy has just sold off Russian natural resources to the Americans. There’s a lot of reason to not allow it.

        • freagle@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          7·
          19 hours ago

          I don’t think China needs to puppet Russia here. If the US attempts to operationalize its resource rights in Ukraine, it will be deploying logistics, mercenaries, and security forces directly under US command. Some Ukrainian forces will continue their connection with ISIS and become stochastic threats in the region, requiring US military escalation. This will be just another way to field an active military on Russia’s most vulnerable border, and Russia cannot allow this, which was the whole reason for Russian aggression in Ukraine in the first place.

          So without China at all, Russia has every incentive to prevent the US from landing extractives operations in Ukraine and may need to fight all the way to Kiev, which is incredibly risky for Russia. Based on that, it may actually be Russia asking China for support because it fears over extending itself.

  • plinky [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    19·
    1 day ago

    is it basically super fun friendship fund of investment rights? seems like nothing from description, no exclusivity or payouts, just basic investment?