Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scurrying to Washington on Friday, February 28, like the cornered rat Russia is making him out to be. He’s coming to personally ink the rare earth minerals deal Trump’s forcing him to sign. Zelenskyy seems to think that he can force a security commitment into the deal by whining to the president in person. Insiders agree that he’s dreaming.
Ukraine agrees to fee
After the United States was gracious enough to fork over billions of defense dollars, Ukraine can’t account for the money.
Before President Donald Trump sits down to end their war with Russia for him, he wants paid for it. They don’t have to come up with any cash, simply sign away their rights to some hard to find metals.
According to rabidly liberal Axios, “two sources close to the Ukrainian government” leaked to them that “the deal was agreed on Tuesday after two weeks of tense negotiations.”
Zelenskyy finally came to his senses and realized Trump was making him an offer he “can’t refuse.” Ukraine had three whole years to either negotiate peace or chase Russia back across their border. They failed miserably at both those jobs.
By agreeing to allow the United States to “tap some of Ukraine’s immense mineral wealth” The Eastern European nation can pay back some of what they owe us, while also having cash resources to “spur post-war development in the country.” Ukraine is convinced that as soon as Zelenskyy signs that contract, Trump’s going to sell him out to Putin.
While it certainly appears that there could be a possibility of that, insiders caution that it’s probably just posturing ahead of sitting down at the table. All that matters is the final deal which gets hammered out.
Behind their back
The media is reporting that “Zelenskyy managed to negotiate a final draft that didn’t include a key U.S. demand that it would have rights to $500 billion in future revenue.” They also note that the deal spells out that we want to keep Ukraine “free, sovereign and secure.”
The problem is that they still won’t detail “specific security guarantees.” The Russian media is reporting that Trump and Putin plan to shove NATO off to the side and split Europe up between them.
Zelenskyy has been going frantic about being left out of the peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Officially, he objected “to the Trump administration opening talks with Moscow about the future of the conflict without involving Ukraine.”
Trump has also been ignoring “key points” of leverage that the Europeans insist should remain on the table. Things like “the possibility of NATO membership.” They still don’t realize that it was the talk of that happening which forced Putin to invade in the first place. They need to forget all about that if they want to end the war.
Trump was allegedly “furious that Zelenskyy rejected an initial version of the minerals deal.” Ukraine started the war by acting like a military threat on Russia’s doorstep. Once the shooting started, he didn’t have the ability to fend off the well armed invaders, though he did manage to fight a strong resistance and occupy Russian territory to exchange back later.
The week before Zelenskyy decided to cooperate, President Trump sent U.S. envoy General Keith Kellogg over to Ukraine to lay out the facts of life. The sooner Zelenskyy gets with the program, the sooner he’ll have Russian tanks off his back.
