The recent US-Ukraine mineral deal seems like a miracle given the disastrous "you don't hold any cards" Washington meeting just a couple of months ago.
Maybe it was fitting that the terms for the this seemingly mutually beneficial deal were set out initially on the day of St Francis' funeral, possibly it was a mammoth act of convincing Trump behind the scenes of the beneficial symbolism of offering a more generous deal having initially played hard-ball, on this particular day...?
Whatever led to the change of US heart (although they will probably claim cold-hearted rationality all the way) the deal seems like a reasonable one for Ukraine, at least so far...
Under the terms of this deal Ukraine gets to own it's own resources, but the licence revenue from the extraction of resources will be shared between the US and Ukraine.
The deal seems to be a win for Trump because it assures US companies first access to supplies of titanium, lithium and other minerals that are essential to various industries ranging from green technology to not-so green military weapons.
And he can proudly report to his loyals that he's put the Ukrainians in their place: boasting that the US will gain far more than it has ever donated in aid....
Zelensky has not yet been given the security guarantees that he craved, but the accord does give America some motivation to fight for an independent Ukraine given that much of its natural resources are located within or in close proximity to contested territories
Trump’s line is that “bad actors” won’t interfere where “we’re doing the digging”, but personally I am not so sure about this. I don't think he's quite realised that Putin thinks he's the bigger man and he isn't going to pull his troops back just so the Americans can mine for precious minerals in peace!
