U.S. Payoff for Ukraine Minerals Deal Faces Many Hurdles
The agreement could provide a windfall to the U.S., but the resources will be expensive to extract, and any progress is unlikely while the war rages.
It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
The agreement could provide a windfall to the U.S., but the resources will be expensive to extract, and any progress is unlikely while the war rages.
The text of the agreement, made public by Ukraine’s government, made no mention of the security guarantees that Kyiv had long sought.
The Trump administration did not immediately provide details about the agreement, and it was not clear what it meant for the future of U.S. military support for Ukraine.
President Alexander Stubb of Finland, who has become an interlocutor in peace talks, says in an interview he doesn’t want Ukraine to suffer the same fate his country once endured.
Alexander Stubb warned against subjecting Ukraine to “Finlandization,” called for more pressure on Russia’s leader to get a peace deal and said President Trump was running out of patience.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there are reasons to be optimistic, but also asserted there are “other issues” on which the administration wants to spend its energy.
Many of President Trump’s actions have been seen as benefiting Russia either directly or indirectly, so much so that Russian officials have celebrated some of his moves.
President Trump also sought to divert blame should negotiations fall apart, a sign that he is perhaps more pessimistic about a deal than he was when he took office in January.
The U.S. proposal would freeze territory along the current front lines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which Ukraine has rejected.
The departure may complicate the already delicate relationship between Washington and Kyiv, which has been stressed by President Trump’s efforts to end the war.