Exclusive: Zelenskiy says 'Let's do a deal', offering Trump mineral partnership, seeking security

[libertybele]

Exclusive: Zelenskiy says 'Let's do a deal', offering Trump mineral partnership, seeking security

KYIV, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal.
The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort.
"If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement.
Ukraine floated the idea of opening its critical minerals to investment by allies last autumn, as it presented a "victory plan" that sought to put it in the strongest position for talks and force Moscow to the table.
Zelenskiy said less than 20% of Ukraine's mineral resources, including about half its rare earth deposits, were under Russian occupation.
Rare earths are important in the manufacture of high-performance magnets, electric motors and consumer electronics; Zelenskiy said Moscow could open those resources to its allies North Korea and Iran, both sworn U.S. enemies.
"We need to stop Putin and protect what we have - a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine," he said.
Russian troops have been gaining ground in the east for months, throwing huge resources into an unrelenting offensive while Kyiv's much smaller army grapples with a shortage of soldiers and frets over future weapons supplies from abroad.
Zelenskiy unfurled a map on a table in the heavily-defended president's office in Kyiv, showing numerous mineral deposits, including a broad strip of land in the east marked as containing rare earths. Around half of it looked to be on Russia's side of the current frontlines.................

https://www.reuters.com/world/zelenskiy-says-lets-do-deal-offering-trump-mineral-partnership-seeking-security-2025-02-07/

[mountaineer]

Art of the Deal.

[libertybele]

Try telling me again that Z hasn't profited off of his conflict with Russia. 

[Canuck Conservative]

By Caitlin Doornbos
NY Post (Feb. 7, 2025)
https://nypost.com/2025/02/07/us-news/trump-wants-a-deal-for-ukraines-natural-resources-as-payback-in-exchange-for-aid-stopping-russia-attack-envoy/

“When you look at the mineral deposits in that country, we’re not talking millions of dollars. We’re talking — virtually every region, we’re talking about billions, and then some regions are [worth] trillions,” retired Gen. Keith Kellogg said this week.

“You can come up with a deal, and that’s what [Trump] has the Treasury looking at: ‘OK, how do you make a deal where aid is predicated off of the payback [of] precious metals?'”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signaled support for a reciprocal resource deal with the US in exchange for security guarantees as part of a potential peace settlement.

Ukraine is home to roughly 5% of the world’s mineral resources, with rich deposits of titanium, uranium, iron, manganese and lithium — as well as rare earth minerals that are considered vital to US national security.

“When we walked out of the Iraq War, we don’t have a single oil contract in Iraq proper — they’re all in Kurdistan,” Kellogg explained. “Nothing. All the sacrifice went to no one. So I think the president is taking an economical look: ‘If you want to do this, there’s got to be something good for the American people,’ and that’s how he’s looking at it.”

Ukraine holds about 7% of the world’s supply of titanium — the largest reserves of any European country — which is needed for the production of everything from aerospace and defense materials to medicine and jewelry. It is also used in other industries such as energy and construction.

The US does not maintain its own supply of titanium in the National Defense Stockpile, instead buying from other nations — including adversaries....

Crucially, while the Russian-occupied eastern Donbas region has about 20% of Ukraine’s mineral reserves — most of Kyiv’s most valuable assets are in the central, northern, and western regions of the country, out of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin’s reach.

“We need to stop Putin and protect what we have — a very rich Dnipro region [in] central Ukraine,” Zelensky told Reuters....

[Canuck Conservative]

We can see enough of Trump's Peace Plan already to know that, rather than abandoning Ukraine, he intends to become their business partner ... Putin can have his bombed-out moonscapes, Trump is giving Ukraine a real future!

Putin Bots' heads to start exploding in 5, 4, 3, ...

[Mod2]

Merged topics

[libertybele]

We can see enough of Trump's Peace Plan already to know that, rather than abandoning Ukraine, he intends to become their business partner ... Putin can have his bombed-out moonscapes, Trump is giving Ukraine a real future!

Putin Bots' heads to start exploding in 5, 4, 3, ...

I don't think it's as black and white as it looks; Putin isn't going to go quietly into the night.

[Wingnut]

I don't think it's as black and white as it looks; Putin isn't going to go quietly into the night.

Look, Trump is going to make Putin a deal he can't reuse. 

[libertybele]

Look, Trump is going to make Putin a deal he can't reuse.

Likely, but neither  Z nor Putin can be trusted.  Just my opinion.

[Kamaji]

Wow.  The hatred for a country that’s just seeking its freedom from an oppressive, quasi-fascist neighbor, is astounding.

[libertybele]

Wow.  The hatred for a country that’s just seeking its freedom from an oppressive, quasi-fascist neighbor, is astounding.

 

[Kamaji]

The truth hurts sometimes.

[libertybele]

The truth hurts sometimes.

If it were the truth, that would have been a different reaction.

[Kamaji]

If it were the truth, that would have been a different reaction.

No, it wouldn’t have.

[Canuck Conservative]

Putin isn't going to go quietly into the night.

Does Russia really have a choice at this point?

They're already running out of money, and their army is making only incremental gains at great cost. If Putin doesn't take the deal, Trump can just tighten the sanctions even further, and Russia's economy will die.

Putin gets his land, US gets strategic minerals, and Ukraine gets US protection and a future.

Who can complain about that??

[Hoodat]

Try telling me again that Z hasn't profited off of his conflict with Russia.

Try showing me that he has.  I've been asking for three years now, @libertybele

[libertybele]

Try showing me that he has.  I've been asking for three years now, @libertybele

Likewise -- try proving that he isn't corrupt.  The arrow is pointed in several directions.  Thinking that Z hasn't pocketed some money is like believing that Hunter is completely devoid of any corruption in Burisma and that the Biden's haven't profited a red cent off this current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Just to clarify; I don't hate Ukraine. Hate is an extremely strong word and one that I seldom use.  It is very unfortunate what the people of Ukraine have been put through.  I don't hate Russia as their people are suffering as well.  What I do find very troubling is the corruption within the governments including ours.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/20258

https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pandora-papers/pandora-papers-reveal-offshore-holdings-of-ukrainian-president-and-his-inner-circle

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-embezzled-400-million-from-fuel-purchase-aid-report-3947123

https://www.politico.eu/article/dominic-cummings-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-war-corruption/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2kfZKtSRg

[libertybele]

Does Russia really have a choice at this point?

They're already running out of money, and their army is making only incremental gains at great cost. If Putin doesn't take the deal, Trump can just tighten the sanctions even further, and Russia's economy will die.

Putin gets his land, US gets strategic minerals, and Ukraine gets US protection and a future.

Who can complain about that??

I'm not privy to the exact 'deal' that Z wants to make with Trump.  However, I don't think Z has any intention of giving Putin any land.  I think he wants assurance that the U.S. will secure Ukraine from any further aggression from Putin while keeping what land they believe is theirs.  Just my opinion.

[Canuck Conservative]

I think he wants assurance that the U.S. will secure Ukraine from any further aggression from Putin while keeping what land they believe is theirs.

Russia will get to keep the land they already occupy, obviously they're not giving that up ... but that's only 1/6 of Ukraine.

The other 5/6 gets a future as a country with the US as a business partner. And it could be worse; everybody expected them to fold in just a matter of weeks in 2022! Yet they never give up, and survived.

But, the important point here is, that warmonger Putin gets put back in his box. That's a win for World Peace - thanks to Donald Trump.

[Hoodat]

Likewise -- try proving that he isn't corrupt.

Try proving that you don't kill puppies.

Thinking that Z hasn't pocketed some money is like believing that Hunter is completely devoid of any corruption in Burisma and that the Biden's haven't profited a red cent off this current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Proving Hunter's corruption in Burisma was easily proven.  Company reports.  Bank deposits.  Pay-for-play meetings.  All constitute proof.  Contrast that with what you have on Zelenskiy.  In fact, you are so bankrupt of any evidence that you shift the burden of proof onto the opposing side by asking them to prove a negative.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/20258

Argumentum ad Populum

https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pandora-papers/pandora-papers-reveal-offshore-holdings-of-ukrainian-president-and-his-inner-circle

You do realize that Zelenskiy made money before he became President.  Your article refers to that, going back to 2012.  Nothing corrupt about that.  If anything, he was protecting his finances from Ukrainian corruption which was prevalent before he took office.  In fact, it was his reason for running for President to begin with.  But then you knew that already.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-embezzled-400-million-from-fuel-purchase-aid-report-3947123

Did you bother reading the very first sentence of this propaganda piece?

"  .  .  .  reported Russian news agency TASS citing US Journalist Seymour Hersh's website."

As usual, noticeably absent from the article is any evidence or proof.

https://www.politico.eu/article/dominic-cummings-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-war-corruption/

Not a single claim of corruption was leveled at Zelenskiy in that article.  Not a single one.  Maybe you should have read it first before posting, no?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2kfZKtSRg

Again, Seymour Hersh.  Again, no evidence.  Here's a synopsis:  https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/04/19/400-million-embezzled/

Bottom Line
Readers of Hersh's reporting could be forgiven if, by the end of the story, they forgot that it was allegedly an expose on Ukrainian embezzlement. Despite being the primary assertion of the story, only two paragraphs are dedicated to the claim. Hersh hides this clear lack of supporting evidence under a torrential onslaught of superfluous information.

As in his fundamentally flawed investigation claiming U.S. involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, his present claim is bolstered by references to actual events and tinted with conspiracy, thanks to the testimony of anonymous intelligence sources (or potentially a sole source) claiming to have non-public insight into those events.

Fundamentally, the actual news presented in his story is that someone knowledgeable supposedly told Hersh that Zelenksyy and his "entourage" have been embezzling U.S. funds by purchasing discounted Russian oil and pocketing the difference.

It's an incendiary claim for which no actual evidence is proffered.

So here we are again with you claiming Zelenskiy to be corrupt, yet having zero evidence to back it up.  None.  Zip.  Nada.  Nothing but your feelings.  I had hoped by now that after several repetitions of this exercise that you'd be more openminded.

[libertybele]

Try proving that you don't kill puppies.


Proving Hunter's corruption in Burisma was easily proven.  Company reports.  Bank deposits.  Pay-for-play meetings.  All constitute proof.  Contrast that with what you have on Zelenskiy.  In fact, you are so bankrupt of any evidence that you shift the burden of proof onto the opposing side by asking them to prove a negative.


Argumentum ad Populum


You do realize that Zelenskiy made money before he became President.  Your article refers to that, going back to 2012.  Nothing corrupt about that.  If anything, he was protecting his finances from Ukrainian corruption which was prevalent before he took office.  In fact, it was his reason for running for President to begin with.  But then you knew that already.


Did you bother reading the very first sentence of this propaganda piece?

"  .  .  .  reported Russian news agency TASS citing US Journalist Seymour Hersh's website."

As usual, noticeably absent from the article is any evidence or proof.


Not a single claim of corruption was leveled at Zelenskiy in that article.  Not a single one.  Maybe you should have read it first before posting, no?


Again, Seymour Hersh.  Again, no evidence.  Here's a synopsis:  https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/04/19/400-million-embezzled/

Bottom Line
Readers of Hersh's reporting could be forgiven if, by the end of the story, they forgot that it was allegedly an expose on Ukrainian embezzlement. Despite being the primary assertion of the story, only two paragraphs are dedicated to the claim. Hersh hides this clear lack of supporting evidence under a torrential onslaught of superfluous information.

As in his fundamentally flawed investigation claiming U.S. involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, his present claim is bolstered by references to actual events and tinted with conspiracy, thanks to the testimony of anonymous intelligence sources (or potentially a sole source) claiming to have non-public insight into those events.

Fundamentally, the actual news presented in his story is that someone knowledgeable supposedly told Hersh that Zelenksyy and his "entourage" have been embezzling U.S. funds by purchasing discounted Russian oil and pocketing the difference.

It's an incendiary claim for which no actual evidence is proffered.

So here we are again with you claiming Zelenskiy to be corrupt, yet having zero evidence to back it up.  None.  Zip.  Nada.  Nothing but your feelings.  I had hoped by now that after several repetitions of this exercise that you'd be more openminded.

I've read the articles;  Z has had  to reign in  those within his own ranks because of corruption.  Does it mean he himself is completely innocent?  Not necessarily.  Right now he's pointing the finger at U.S. corruption. However, that still doesn't mean he's completely innocent.

You are absolutely correct @Hoodat  - I have no absolute proof only connecting some dots and my opinion.  Yes, here we are again.  This is my opinion.  Has Z done some good for his country?  Yes, I believe so, but I also believe he's had his hands in the cookie jar along the way, and  yes, I realize he made money before he became president.  Again, this is my opinion.

Being open minded about the guy and giving him the benefit of the doubt .... and telling you that I feel he is completely innocent, would be lying to you.

I honestly feel for the people of Ukraine, as well as for the people of Russia.  It isn't the first conflict between the two countries that these people have had to endure.  I've read stories of the government on both sides, murdering their own people to blame the opposite government (pre Zelenskyy) to obtain their agenda. Whether or not those stores are true, I have no absolute proof. 

There are pictures of the atrocities that have happened during this current conflict on both sides and they are horrific.

This conflict needs to end.  The conflicts around the globe and within our country needs  to end. Conflicts and wars have been going on since the beginning of time.

Praying for peace.