Trump says he will continue funding Ukraine’s war effort — but he wants something rare in return

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-says-will-continue-funding-ukraines-war-effort-wants-something-r-rcna190555

Posted by nbcnews

13 comments

  1. [President Donald Trump](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/live-blog/trump-rfk-tulsi-gabbard-netanyahu-tariffs-live-updates-rcna190377) says he wants access to [Ukraine’s](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia-ukraine-news) bonanza of rare earth and critical minerals in exchange for the billions of dollars in military aid Washington has been supplying to Kyiv.

    It’s an idea [previously suggested by Republican senators](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-ukraine-foreign-aid-loan-natural-resources-collateral-rcna150388) and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/uks-starmer-kyiv-security-talks-pledge-100-year-partnership-ukraine-rcna187922), who sought to appeal to [Trump’s dealmaker persona](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/wall-street-expects-trump-presidency-will-unlock-deal-making-rcna179213) as a way of keeping alive Washington’s support of Kyiv.

    “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

  3. I’m willing to be reasonable here. Trump doesn’t want to give away hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid… for free. If Ukraine has a resource that can be mined cheaper than it could be in the US, there might be a way to make everyone happy. According to the article this deal was actually supported by Zelensky. So fine, I have no issues. I would love a long term deal that helps Ukraine be seen as a permanent partner, rather than a temporary geopolitical convenience.

  4. This could work out, If Ukraine can convince Trump they need more weapons to retake the east to get him what they want? 🤔

  5. This is one of the few things that could lead to a good outcome with this insane excuse for a government.

    Trump is *purely* transactional and zero-sum in his thinking. For him to win, he has to see someone else lose.

    Zelenskiy could call him on this offer. “OK, let’s get US mining businesses to come and extract and process the ores. Obviously, those companies are going to need security guarantees for their people. The US provides the security, Ukraine provides the labour for construction and operation of the mines, and it turns out that most of the mines are in, or close to, the Russian-occupied areas. Let’s do a deal.”

    Ukraine (and the free world) need to break Russia. To do that we either need the US to commit, or the EU to fight an actual war.

    If the cost of getting the US to commit is Lithium mining licenses, that’s a negotiable deal.

  6. That’s what the war was about right from the beginning.

  7. it’s certainly exploitative but this is probably the best-case scenario given that the alternative was shutting off the funding completely.

    particularly because so many of the mineral deposits are in the russian-occupied regions, it gives the Trump admin a strong motivation to support the full expulsion of Russia from Ukraine rather than whatever shitty peace plan they would have come up with otherwise.

    Honestly a great bit of maneuvering from Zelensky to shore up support from the new administration. Even if it should have been given unconditionally.

  8. So we buy rare earth metals from Ukraine? Why aren’t we already doing that?

  10. Great news.
    I guess this will mean that it’s more of a transaction, and thus there should be no restrictions on what or how the Ukrainians use whatever is “bought” by the US.

    Biden’s policy dictated that support was mostly just a great way to dispose old stock ammunition cheaply, and at the same time getting to halt a growing Russian headache. Win-win.

    If Trump feels that he can claim he made a much better deal than Biden, great, let him bask in whatever glory this gives him.
    End result is the same as Bidens, and a continued existence of Ukraine as a nation.

    Great news.

  12. If anyone thought that this the US was not getting something in return for all this aid you are mistaken, best case scenario America helps Ukraine get back its territory, America then has a vested ally that is favorable to us interest and businesses.

  13. Hey, don’t electric car batteries use those? 🤔 

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