This current thing, a Rare Earths contract, is highly speculative, smoke and mirrors and hope and what not, and the EU by getting there first and best, has tied up the non-speculative resources, and hence, can support Ukraine by buying U.S. arms for Ukraine, or can find another source, since the EU has no arms industry to speak of at present. Bottom line = share the spoils. Or buy U.S. weaponry. Which is not unfair, [to Ukraine perhaps unfair, but not to the EU] possibly pulling a fast one and being called on it. Which explains the staged "blow up" presser where Vance started the ball rolling and Trump saying he wanted the public to see it, which is not wholly honest with the public, since it was most likely pre-arranged. Zelinskyy playing his part.
And when Trump and Putin meet if the U.S. cuts whatever deal with Putin, then Russia can take and annex the whole of Ukraine - unless Europe has the means, and more importantly the collective will to stop it. Which is a "we shall see" thing, if things come to that.
The one search telling it all -
search = Ukraine natural resources actual and potential EU
That and an earlier like-minded search have interesting returns, i.e., provacative news. Start with the smoking gun -
https://www.geo.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/presentations/en/critical-minerals-portfolio.pdf stating, p.1 et seq
Strategic Partnership on Critical Minerals
1 In July 2021 the EU and Ukraine signed a
Memorandum on Strategic Partnership in
the Raw Materials
2 In November 2022, Ukraine was
represented for the first time at the
European Raw Materials Week, where it
held an investment forum together with
the European Commission, presenting
mining business opportunities
3 The next investment forum was held in
June 2023 during the second Ukrainian
Recovery Conference in London
This, as Trump would himself point out, if asked, was during the Biden administration, the U.S. unmentioned in those points, nor in the entire item. Continuing -
Ukraine proposes a wide range of mining investment opportunities
100 projects of mainly ten critical raw materials* could be
developed to bridge the current mining gap in Europe
Later in that item page by page - Titanium, Lithium, Graphite, Nickle & Cobalt, Rare Earths, Gold-Lead-Zinc deposits, -- hot dog -- that represents:
 |
| final page of the pdf item |
So history has details, but a deal was cut with the U.S. not a player? Strange?
Other returned items of interest:
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-russia-war-mineral-wealth-us-eu-v2/a-71531476
https://www.yahoo.com/news/eu-offers-ukraine-mutually-beneficial-095912107.html
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2019062/donald-trump-eu-minerals-deal-ukraine
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/28/mapping-ukraines-rare-earth-and-critical-minerals
https://www.enseccoe.org/publications/ukraines-resources/
https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-ukraines-mineral-resources/
https://www.geo.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/presentations/en/ugs-annual-report-2021.pdf
and more. Now, admitting reliance only on websearch, and items found; so it is possible I err in presuming the EU has already "harvested the low hanging fruit" leaving the U.S. in the cold. If so, there still is the question, what is the EU doing this very moment, and what does that mean for the U.S.? If in 2021 there were already licenses, as the final listed item states, then: between whom, and terms and conditions?
At any rate, the exploitation of Ukraine resources might be a part of why Russia invaded, and what existing mineral deals are affected, in what ways, in the resolution that Trump is proposing vs. what EU measures are being considered after the oval office blow up?
However things stand, looking at Ukraine natural resources, and greed of others toward same, is possibly the best vantage point to see how things stand and will develop. And in closing, that oval office presser blow up beyond any reasonable doubt was a staged event, the only question being was Zelinskyy lured into it, or a part of planning in advance?
__________UPDATE_________
The homepage, https://www.geo.gov.ua/en/ links to this Oct. 2024 page, apparently one of the latest item, titled:
Ukraine and the EU are developing cooperation in the field of critical raw materials
Hence, detail to flesh things out is needed. Final paragraph of that item:
According to the results of the meeting, the parties agreed on the next steps of Ukraine-EU cooperation in the conditions of Russia’s armed aggression, as well as the rapid recovery of Ukraine in the post-war period. European colleagues assured of further financial and expert support for reforms, in particular in the sector of the extractive industry and critical minerals. After all, partnership with the EU in the field of extraction and processing of critical minerals will not only strengthen our economies, but also contribute to global stability and security.
Again, Ukraine is a part of Europe, and the minerals there are in that sense European, but if NATO is considered, beyond the EU, where the understanding here is that Ukraine is a part of neither such organizations; U.S. funding of NATO activity seems to give a seat at the table regarding ALL of Ukraine's assets, comparable to what EU nations are being offered. Or am I wrong?
Which European nations are sufficiently wealthy, with liquidity of funds, to step in and be a partner to Ukraine re its resource, and which nations are in fact invested in such mineral deals, terms and conditions, are all things the AMERICAN PUBLIC deserves to know in order to judge the actions of our elected officials. A dog/pony show starting with asking Zelinskyy why he does not wear a suit, by one of the innumerable suits present there, is not, Not, NOT what the AMERICAN PUBLIC deserves from its government (Elon's black styling matches Zelinskyy's and Elon is not foregoing wearing a suit while his nation is at war, it is just his uncriticized choice).
That suit crap sinks, not floating, and it came from MTG's squeeze.