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Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment.
Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.
The officials argued that they had negotiated far more favourable terms and depicted the deal as a way of broadening the relationship with the US to shore up Ukraine’s prospects after three years of war.
I hope that they’re stalling, or that the agreement is just something that looks good to Trump’s shit-clogged brain without promising anything substantial. Or something with a subtle poison pill or loophole in it of some sort that would make ‘calling in’ the benefits difficult, at least for so long as the war goes on.
But I’m inclined to agree that this seems like they’re just gambling that any chance of US help is better than none.
Still. I really hope it isn’t.