Trump went on Fox News earlier today, demanded that Ukraine pay the US back for the hundreds of billions of dollars the US has sent them and gotten nothing in return, and then announced that Ukraine had agreed to pay the US back with $500 billion worth of rare earth elements.
You can argue about the moral aspect of it, but my controversial (even for a Ukrainian) opinion is that if he helps us achieve lasting peace, so that every generation of Ukrainians will stop paying a bloody price for being born next to russia, he can have his resources.
You will be shocked, shocked to learn that Ukraine has not agreed to this.
⚡️ US Treasury Secretary to visit Ukraine this week for talks on critical minerals deal, Bloomberg reports.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Ukraine this week to discuss a potential deal between Kyiv and Washington on critical minerals, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11.
Editor’s note: The article was updated after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Scott Bessent’s visit to Ukraine.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Ukraine this week to discuss a potential deal between Kyiv and Washington on critical minerals, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11, citing undisclosed sources.
Later in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that Bessent would arrive in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I am sending Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This war must and will end soon — too much death and destruction. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars globally with little to show. When America is strong, the world is at peace.”
Trump previously suggested that new aid shipments could depend on trade deals the U.S. negotiates with Ukraine. On Feb. 3, Trump said he wanted to provide Ukraine with weapons and aid in exchange for “rare earths and other things.”
Zelensky has said he is open to an arrangement that would grant U.S. companies access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral reserves in exchange for continued support from Washington.
Bessent will be the first representative of the new U.S. administration after Trump’s return to the White House.
Zelensky earlier announced that some high-profile people from Trump’s team would visit Ukraine this week before the Munich Security Conference, which starts on Feb. 14.
The Presidential Office also said previously that Ukraine is preparing to host Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, in February.
According to sources in Ukraine’s President’s Office, cited by RBC-Ukraine, Kellogg will visit Ukraine on Feb. 20 after the Munich Security Conference.
There’s a really important point that needs to be made right now: a significant portion of those Ukrainian rare earth elements are currently underneath where Russia’s armed forces are illegally occupying Ukraine.
A secondary important point: do not offer Trump any of your internal organs.
A tertiary important point: given the Treasury Secretary’s net worth, you’d think he could afford a better plastic surgeon.
A quartary important point: roast Thanksgiving turkey is not a good color for the President.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Ukraine Will Be Able to Complete Two More Power Units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, Which Means More than Two Gigawatts of Electricity – Address by the President
11 February 2025 – 19:39
Dear Ukrainians!
Today, first and foremost, I want to thank all the defenders of our skies. Every unit, every warrior who is protecting Ukraine from Russian missiles and drones. Today, we faced another strike on our energy sector – nearly 20 Russian missiles, including ballistic ones, and almost 125 drones of various types. A substantial amount of them was shot down. I will particularly commend the mobile fire groups of the 302nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of Kharkiv – great work, warriors! Thank you! I am also grateful to all our helicopter pilots in the Defense Forces, who, virtually every night, under extremely difficult conditions, deliver results in intercepting “Shahed” drones. These are helicopter pilots from our Land Forces, Air Force, Navy, and Border Guard Service – everyone in our Ukrainian Defense and Security Forces who is involved in protecting our skies, as well as those who contribute and offer support – thank you all! This week, and next week, we will continue discussions with our partners on ways to enhance the capabilities of our air defense – the protection of all our skies. Every available opportunity in the world, every potential contract that can strengthen Ukraine – we are focusing on all of these and working as quickly as possible.
It is also important to mention Ukraine’s energy security today – an important day, as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has made a significant step. Ukraine will be able to complete two more power units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, which means more than two gigawatts of electricity for Ukraine. And to put it into context, currently, during these difficult winter months, we can import roughly that amount of electricity from our neighbors. Our completed power units will allow Ukraine to operate without imports, even during the winter months. And it will definitely help us keep electricity prices from rising for the people. And even in terms of special economic projects with our partners – with the United States, with President Trump – regarding Ukraine’s special resources, extraction and processing, Ukraine will now be able to speak more confidently, as it will have an additional and significant source of electricity in the future. In the modern world, industrial growth and development of any economy must be based on the development of energy sources. This is exactly what we are doing. Of course, there are some voices of criticism. But these are the voices of those for whom cheap energy in Ukraine is simply not profitable- they fill their pockets or the pockets of those they depend on from higher energy prices than nuclear power. All these numbers are available. Anyone can see and verify for themselves. I am grateful to our deputies who have supported Ukraine’s energy independence and industrial development.
We are already prepared for meetings with representatives of the United States – negotiations will begin soon. At many levels. I have scheduled a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council for tomorrow. On several issues. We will work on making medicines cheaper in Ukrainian pharmacies – this is important. And we will continue defending our state through sanctions.
I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.
In a Fox News interview aired late on Monday, Trump said the US had spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Ukraine in recent years. “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal, they may be Russian some day, they may not be Russian some day, but we’re gonna have all this money in there and I said I want it back,” said Trump.
It means that along with Zelenskyy’s oft-heard messages about the geopolitical and moral risks of allowing Russia to prevail in Ukraine, he has added some new ones, tailor-made for the US president. Most notable is the idea that the US will get priority access to Ukraine’s “rare earths”, a prospect that has piqued Trump’s interest enough for him to mention it several times in recent media appearances. Trump on Tuesday said he was dispatching US treasury secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine, which was reported by Reuters to discuss rare earth mineral resources.
Zelenskyy said he pitched this idea to Trump back in September, when the pair met in New York, and he intends to return with “a more detailed plan” about opportunities for US companies both in the reconstruction of postwar Ukraine and in the extraction of Ukrainian natural resources.
Ukraine has the biggest uranium and titanium reserves in Europe, said Zelenskyy, and it was “not in the interests of the United States” for these reserves to be in Russian hands and potentially shared with North Korea, China or Iran.
But there was a financial incentive, too, he said: “We are talking not only about security, but also about money … Valuable natural resources where we can offer our partners possibilities that didn’t exist before to invest in them … For us it will create jobs, for American companies it will create profits.”
Zelenskyy said it was crucial for Ukraine’s security that US military support continued, giving the example of US-made Patriot air defence systems. “Only Patriot can defend us against all kinds of missiles, only Patriots. There are other [European] systems … but they cannot provide full protection … So even from this small example you can see that without America, security guarantees cannot be complete,” he said.
If Trump does manage to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, Zelenskyy said he planned to offer Russia a straight territory exchange, giving up land Kyiv has held in Russia’s Kursk region since the launch of a surprise offensive there six months ago.
“We will swap one territory for another,” he said, but added that he did not know which part of Russian-occupied land Ukraine would ask for in return. “I don’t know, we will see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority,” he said.
As Zelenskyy turns his attention to Trump-whispering, he said it was still too early to pass judgment on the previous administration. Relations between Kyiv and Washington were said to be increasingly frosty as Zelenskyy’s team grew frustrated with Joe Biden’s focus on managing the risks of escalation.
Asked whether he thought Biden would go down in history as the man who helped save Ukraine, or the man who responded too slowly to meet the challenge from Putin, Zelenskyy laughed and said it was “very difficult” to say at this stage.
He criticised Biden’s initial unwillingness to provide Ukraine with weapons – “this lack of confidence gave confidence to Russia” – but said Ukraine was grateful for all the help that followed.
The full evaluation, he said, would only emerge with time: “History shows that there are many things that you just don’t know, what happened behind the scenes, what negotiations there were … it’s hard to characterise it all today because we don’t know everything. Later we will know, we will know everything.”
Much more at the link.
Georgia:
Day 76. We demand new, free and fair elections, and the release of all political prisoners.
The rhythmic public chant get more intense. I think it was February 1 when “until the end” was incorporated, and now I heard “bring down the regime” for the first time. #GeorgiaProtests
Day 76. The police was less persistent today and people were also took the risk of jumping onto the road more arbitrarily and openly.
The very vulgar anti-Georgian Dream anthem can be heard in this video of the first moment of blocking Rustaveli. #GeorgiaProtests
2/ A few weeks ago, Gabitashvili protested against GD members in Abu Dhabi, after which he was physically assaulted by party members while having breakfast at a hotel.
My vocabulary in the post below was inspired by Professor Levan Ghambashidze who said: “the Georgian culture will vomit out the Georgian Dream.”
Indeed: the Georgian culture will not erase, kill, digest, overcome, or defeat the Georgian Dream. It will vomit it out.
You cannot simply outvote such regimes and continue business as usual with them in the political spectrum. The iron law of history is that either they swallow a nation fully, or a nation throws them up like a food poisoning, cleanses itself, and moves on to treat them as the filth of history that 2/
must never be allowed to happen again, forging a truly civic society.
I am glad that there’s a rapidly increasing reevaluation of Georgia’s recent history to the detriment of all that this criminal regime represents. 3/
Admittedly, I assumed that there were people and issue-specific professionals smarter than me in this country and since it was the paradigm that the 2024 elections would be impossible to rig, so I went along with it). 4/4.
As Ukraine nears the fourth year of full-scale war with Russia, it is launching a major army reform aimed at improving its efficiency and organization on the battlefield.
The The Kyiv Independent has more details on this concept that we covered about two weeks ago:
As Ukraine nears the fourth year of full-scale war with Russia, it is launching a major army reform aimed at improving its efficiency and organization on the battlefield.
“We need the corps system,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 3, adding: “Today we discussed approaches to the appointment of corps commanders: these should be the best-trained, most promising officers with combat experience and modern thinking.”
“The army must be modern.”
The Ukrainian army currently operates largely under a brigade-level system. According to Zelensky, there are more than 100 brigades, each of which is subordinated to operational-tactical groups (OTU), which are subject to operational-strategic command (OSUV), and operational commands (OK).
According to experts speaking to the Kyiv Independent, this has created an unwieldy management system that leads to poor coordination, as each OTU or OSUV may have dozens of brigades under its command.
John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Kyiv Independent that OTUs and OSUVs are temporary bodies, so their commanders do not know their brigades as well as a permanent corps commander would.
A related problem is that battalions from one brigade are often scattered across different parts of the front and attached to other brigades, undermining unit cohesion, he added.
Hardie also said micromanagement is another drawback of this system, as there have been cases of interfering commanders without knowledge of a complete or up-to-date picture of the situation on the ground.
Drawing on the experience of NATO partners, Ukraine plans to implement a corps system instead of a brigade one, seeking to improve cohesion.
A corps is an army formation consists of several brigades rather than dozens, and includes various branches of the forces and support units.
The upcoming reform will add the corps level to the army structure, which will be organizationally above the brigades. The Ukrainian military command plans to create 20 corps, Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net reported, citing undisclosed sources.
Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army Major-General said a corps usually has only three to seven brigades at its disposal, which allows commanders to better focus on their troops, and distributes the management load more efficiently.
“(The transition to the corps) will allow them just to get their arms around the brigades, have some brigades planning for operations, some brigades conducting operations, some brigades resting from operations,” Ryan said.
“It will allow for more efficient employment of land combat forces and a more efficient link between the tactical and General Staff,” he added.
Ryan said the transition to the corps system is also part of the Ukrainian army’s adaptation to NATO standards and separation from its Soviet heritage.
Yet, the newly created corps could be different from those deployed by the U.K. and the U.S. during the Cold War, as there have been “profound changes” in technology since 1990s, he said.
“The West should look on with some interest because the reality is, besides the Americans, most Western military organizations are brigade-centric organizations,” Ryan said.
There are currently five corps in the Ukrainian Armed Forces — the 9th, 10th, and 11th corps of the Ground Forces, the Rapid Reaction Corps in the Air Assault Forces, and the Marine Corps in the Navy.
“Ukraine currently has some army corps, but they’re basically corps in name only. Their units are often scattered to different parts of the front line, and the corps lack many corps-echelon support units,” Hardie said.
“Even in instances where multiple units from a corps have operated alongside one another, such as during the 2023 counteroffensive, the corps commanders didn’t exercise command and control, and at any rate, the units lacked sufficient cohesion to function together as corps,” Hardie added.
Viktor Kevliuk, a retired Ukrainian military officer and defense expert, told the Kyiv Independent that the past performance of existing corps should be a cause for concern.
“In 2023, the 9th and 10th corps failed in the offensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In 2024, the 7th corps surrendered Vuhledar and then Kurakhove,” he said.
“In 2025, we still believe that the corps (system) is a panacea for all diseases.”
More at the link.
Here’s Tatarigami’s take on Trump’s demands for $500 billion worth of compensation:
Based on direct statements from President Trump, Ukraine would be expected to “pay back” $500 billion in resources.
Thread:
1/ This was not framed as a trade of new weapons for resources, but rather, as Trump put it, “We are going to have all this money, and I want it back.”
2/ Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Waltz has stated that Europe will be fully responsible for Ukraine’s security, saying security guarantees are “squarely” a European issue. Additionally, Pete Hegseth confirmed there will be no U.S. boots on the ground.
3/ Ukraine’s main problems right now are
– A shortage of infantry
– Organizational inefficiencies
The leading cause of casualties on both sides in 2024 and 2025 was drones, specifically “bomb-dropping drones” and FPV kamikaze drones, which the U.S. does not supply.
4/ Most drones are acquired through donations, direct unit purchases, Ukrainian funds, or loans and investments. The US does not directly provide these drones. For the cost of one U.S.-supplied Switchblade 300 loitering munition, Ukraine could buy approximately 55–80 FPV drones – much better deal.
5/ For months, our team has received reports of personnel transfers from air defense, electronic warfare, anti-tank, artillery reconnaissance, and drone units into infantry roles. Some units have been ordered to transfer 50% of their personnel into infantry.
6/ In certain cases, Western-supplied equipment is not being fully utilized because trained personnel have been reassigned. In this context, adding more overpriced Abrams tanks or Switchblades does little to solve the problem.
7/ Yes, Ukraine still needs key systems like HIMARS missiles, artillery shells, intelligence data, Starlink, and other critical assets. But none of this justifies a $500 billion “payback,” making the proposed deal a terrible one for Ukraine.
8/ Without solid security guarantees, like NATO or US boots on the ground – the war cannot be stopped. Paper guarantees from the US hold little value, as the Budapest Memorandum has already shown. If Europe is expected to provide Ukraine’s security, why should Ukraine make a deal with the US at all?
9/ Why not deal directly with Europe on security and resources instead of involving an overpriced middleman? Right now, there are far more questions than answers, but one thing is clear: Washington has no real plan.
10/ The current proposals don’t position the U.S. as a strategic counter to Russia – instead, they suggest Russia will retain occupied territories, and get sanctions relief, while Ukraine gets pillaged by Trump.
🇨🇦🤝🇺🇦 Helijet International has delivered a Sikorsky S-76A medical helicopter to Ukraine. The helicopter, previously used for medical transport in British Columbia, will now support life-saving evacuation missions in Ukraine.
Russia continues its daily terror against civilians. Today, a russian airstrike hit a house in Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, injuring seven people, including a 12-year-old boy.
Russia struck Zolochev in the Kharkiv region with guided aerial bombs, damaging 13 houses and injuring 7 people, including a 12-year-old child. Two women and a man were pulled from the rubble.
Russia launched an airstrike against the village of Zolochiv in Kharkiv Oblast on Feb. 11, injuring at least six people, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
A 12-year-old boy was among the injured. Three of the victims have been hospitalized, while the others were provided medical assistance on the spot, the governor said.
Russian forces reportedly struck the town with guided aerial bombs at around 11:27 a.m. local time, hitting a house.
The full extent of damage and casualties is being determined.
Zolochiv, with a pre-war population of 7,700, lies around 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of the Ukraine-Russia border and some 35 kilometers (20 miles) from the regional center, Kharkiv.
Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine‘s northeast is a regular target of Russian missile, drone, and glide bomb attacks from across the border or Russian-occupied territories.
In Russia’s Kursk region, Russians damaged a Ukrainian pickup truck. That night, in retaliation, their house, along with belongings and equipment, was destroyed by an aerial strike.
Russian oil refinery in Saratov was under drone attack tonight. “Saratov Oil Refinery” is one of the oldest Russian oil refining enterprises. Oil refining volume: 7.2 million tons per year. 600km from the frontline.
So I guess the deal should be that Ukraine will hand over the minerals just as soon as they can access them. They could even offer to sweeten the deal by offering to help show Trump how to kill the Russians who are currently occupying the land over those minerals, preventing Donny from getting his tiny little hands on them.
2.
YY_Sima Qian
Thanks Adam!
Trump & those around him are imperialists of the late 19th Century mold, w/o the liberal inclinations (real & pretend) of even the Victorian British Empire, let alone that of the liberal internationalists/hegemonists during & post-Cold War.
3.
YY_Sima Qian
@Chief Oshkosh: Even if Ukraine somehow hands over the rare earth metal ores/earths to the US, the US will still have to send them on to the PRC for processing & refining into useful forms.
Ukraine will sign deals, (on paper), will walk the purchaser up to the Zero Line, point east and say, your ore deposit is over there, 50km, good luck with that.
6.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
7.
ColoradoGuy
That makes perfect sense. Hand over the minerals in Russian-occupied territory, and tell the oligarch class, “there they are, boys, go get ’em!”.
I wouldn’t put it past the oligarchs to hire every mercenary in the world to take on the Russians. Let the Russian oligarchs and the Rest-of-World oligarchs fight it out amongst themselves.
8.
Jay
Anton Gerashchenko
@Gerashchenko_en
4h
Prime Minister of Slovakia Fico and speaker of Russian Duma Volodin issued the same suggestion: to compile and investigate lists of all organizations and individuals in their respective countries that received any sort of financing from USAID.
◾️Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin suggested in the most recent session that lists of all organizations and individuals funded by USAID should be given to FSB. And also that they should all “publicly confess and repent on the Red Square.”
◾️Slovak PM Robert Fico wrote an open letter to Elon Musk, asking for basically the same thing. He wants to have lists of organizations, media and individual journalists who received grants from USAID, as he believes the money was used to “deform the political system.”
Feb 11, 2025 · 9:01 PM UTC
Anton Gerashchenko
@Gerashchenko_en
10h
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says Slovakia is “morally entitled” to halt the supply of gas to Ukraine from Europe:
“…the gas has been flowing through the reverse pipe to Ukraine for several days. Gas, without which Ukraine would freeze. Slovakia plays no role in this. The suppliers are foreign companies. However, we are morally entitled to consider methods to stop foreign supplies of around 7.5 million cubic metres per day to Ukraine.”
Soon, it will be three years since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine – the biggest war in Europe since WWII.
The month of February is ahead of us, and it promises to be freezing…
Feb 11, 2025 · 3:25 PM UTC
To add context, Slovakia got it’s oil and gas from ruZZia via pipelines that crossed Ukraine. Gasprom failed to make payments for transhipment, so the contract was void and Ukraine shut the pipelines down in December.
Ukraine gets gas an oil from the EU, via a pipeline that crosses Slovakia. The transhipment agreement however is with the EU, not Slovakia.
I think “burnt turkey” is appropriate for Turkey Trump, the figurehead president
13.
Wombat Probability Cloud
@Jay: I like this idea. My gut reaction is to entice Trump to take the deal and then renege in a subtle but effective way. At what point did Bessent et al. lose their souls? Gobsmacking.
14.
Jeffro
some clever hobgoblin close to trumpov has him REALLY wired on “acquiring rare earth minerals” or whatever the term is
I mean, like, whisper-in-his-ear-at-bedtime kind of wired
15.
Jeffro
also, I like Tatarigami’s #9: if the US is just going to be an expensive middleman and “Europe is responsible for Ukraine’s security” then eff the US (under trumpov) and just work with/pay Europe
16.
trollhattan
Okay, so Ukraine via a 3rd party kidnaps Elmo and ransoms him for all his worth, hands to Donny and payment made.
I mean, fuck it, Ukraine should just go ahead and promise it, and Dipshit Hitler will probably forget about the whole thing.
22.
different-church-lady
@trollhattan: The thought has occurred to me: by insulting Gaza so deeply, Dipshit Hitler has put a massive target on his back.
It’s like the scene in The Long Good Friday where Jeff is trying to explain to Harold just how bad the IRA is going to go after him. Trump just has no idea what he’s dealing with.
23.
Gin & Tonic
I actually welcome the prospect of high-level US officials visiting Kyiv and being woken by air-raid sirens every night. I hope they realize it’s a long train ride from Krakow or Rzeszow to Kyiv.
24.
wjca
@Old School: Just picture the Trump resorts that could be built in Crimea!
But there’s just soooo much more coast for resorts across the north of Russia! (Especially if, like Trump, you think a Mercator projection is reality.)
I realise Joe Biden failed Ukraine in many ways, but at least he had a moral compass & didn’t demand “payment” for all the Ukrainians fighting & dying with American weapons.
Thanks as always, Adam.
27.
TBone
American Warship Minerals Miners: Go fuck yourselves.
28.
Archon
I guess being a colony of the U.S is better then being annexed by Russia.
Still though, America going full imperial while helping dismantle the post world order we built is surreal.
One of the first things ruZZia did in the mining regions of Ukraine, was to cut up headshaft structures and loot and ship back to ruZZia any functioning equipment.
So anyone who buys into a “mine”, is going to have to first, evict the ruZZians, then deal with the fact that at the most, they have bought a hole in the ground surrounded by massive toxic waste piles.
30.
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: I guess it’s good that Bessent is visiting Kyiv. But the first thing I thought when I heard about it on the radio was that Elon Musk wanted Bessent out of the Treasury building for a few days, so his goons could wreck more stuff and steal more money.
Is it just me or has that whole WSJ reporting on the Musk-Putin phone calls (contemporaneous PBS story linked here with no paywall) gone completely down the public memory hole?
Adam, many thanks for doing this grueling and yet necessary nightly chronicle.
ed. for grammar
33.
TBone
@Jay: thank you. After seeing the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico in actual print on my screen yesterdqy, I lost my shit a little when I read Adam’s post last night. I’ve been trying like hell to keep calm so I can carry on, but I had to let that one fly! It feels so good.
34.
TBone
@Captain C: I remembered and semi-recently commented about it to Betty Cracker.
ETA thanks Adam. Manners don’t come natural to me this early and I can only imagine how this all feels for you when I can barely contain myself.
35.
YY_Sima Qian
Interesting thread on an OSINT effort to track down a couple of small, obscure PRC companies making drones & drone components for the Ukrainian battlefield (probably supplying both sides). This is Part 1 focusing on a company called DSI, Part 2 to follow in a day or 2.
DanielR
@DanielR33187703
6h • 21 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
A number of companies have been making money from the war in Ukraine. This is a series of threads that look at various videos posted by two companies who supply equipment related to drones. The goal is to obtain a better idea of what is happening.
…
Small operations such as DSI are probably representative of the players catering to the demand, as the more prominent PRC defense contractors have thus far stayed out of supplying the war, due to geopolitical considerations.
Comments are closed.
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There are still some good things happening in the world
Chief Oshkosh
So I guess the deal should be that Ukraine will hand over the minerals just as soon as they can access them. They could even offer to sweeten the deal by offering to help show Trump how to kill the Russians who are currently occupying the land over those minerals, preventing Donny from getting his tiny little hands on them.
YY_Sima Qian
Thanks Adam!
Trump & those around him are imperialists of the late 19th Century mold, w/o the liberal inclinations (real & pretend) of even the Victorian British Empire, let alone that of the liberal internationalists/hegemonists during & post-Cold War.
YY_Sima Qian
@Chief Oshkosh: Even if Ukraine somehow hands over the rare earth metal ores/earths to the US, the US will still have to send them on to the PRC for processing & refining into useful forms.
Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Ukraine will sign deals, (on paper), will walk the purchaser up to the Zero Line, point east and say, your ore deposit is over there, 50km, good luck with that.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
ColoradoGuy
That makes perfect sense. Hand over the minerals in Russian-occupied territory, and tell the oligarch class, “there they are, boys, go get ’em!”.
I wouldn’t put it past the oligarchs to hire every mercenary in the world to take on the Russians. Let the Russian oligarchs and the Rest-of-World oligarchs fight it out amongst themselves.
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/Gerashchenko_en/status/1889419612175081807#m
https://nitter.poast.org/Gerashchenko_en/status/1889334907094065362#m
To add context, Slovakia got it’s oil and gas from ruZZia via pipelines that crossed Ukraine. Gasprom failed to make payments for transhipment, so the contract was void and Ukraine shut the pipelines down in December.
Ukraine gets gas an oil from the EU, via a pipeline that crosses Slovakia. The transhipment agreement however is with the EU, not Slovakia.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: @AlaskaReader: You’re welcome!
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Ha! Indeed.
Parfigliano
Thanks Adam.
RepubAnon
I think “burnt turkey” is appropriate for Turkey Trump, the figurehead president
Wombat Probability Cloud
@Jay: I like this idea. My gut reaction is to entice Trump to take the deal and then renege in a subtle but effective way. At what point did Bessent et al. lose their souls? Gobsmacking.
Jeffro
some clever hobgoblin close to trumpov has him REALLY wired on “acquiring rare earth minerals” or whatever the term is
I mean, like, whisper-in-his-ear-at-bedtime kind of wired
Jeffro
also, I like Tatarigami’s #9: if the US is just going to be an expensive middleman and “Europe is responsible for Ukraine’s security” then eff the US (under trumpov) and just work with/pay Europe
trollhattan
Okay, so Ukraine via a 3rd party kidnaps Elmo and ransoms him for all his worth, hands to Donny and payment made.
Down for that.
scav
@YY_Sima Qian: “Do you have a flag?“
Adam L Silverman
@Parfigliano: You’re welcome.
Old School
Just picture the Trump resorts that could be built in Crimea!
YY_Sima Qian
@scav: Hilarious!
different-church-lady
I mean, fuck it, Ukraine should just go ahead and promise it, and Dipshit Hitler will probably forget about the whole thing.
different-church-lady
@trollhattan: The thought has occurred to me: by insulting Gaza so deeply, Dipshit Hitler has put a massive target on his back.
It’s like the scene in The Long Good Friday where Jeff is trying to explain to Harold just how bad the IRA is going to go after him. Trump just has no idea what he’s dealing with.
Gin & Tonic
I actually welcome the prospect of high-level US officials visiting Kyiv and being woken by air-raid sirens every night. I hope they realize it’s a long train ride from Krakow or Rzeszow to Kyiv.
wjca
But there’s just soooo much more coast for resorts across the north of Russia! (Especially if, like Trump, you think a Mercator projection is reality.)
Wombat Probability Cloud
@Wombat Probability Cloud:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/11/2302975/-Trump-wants-500B-in-mineral-rights-to-help-Ukraine-Give-it-to-him#view-story
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
I realise Joe Biden failed Ukraine in many ways, but at least he had a moral compass & didn’t demand “payment” for all the Ukrainians fighting & dying with American weapons.
Thanks as always, Adam.
TBone
American
WarshipMinerals Miners: Go fuck yourselves.Archon
I guess being a colony of the U.S is better then being annexed by Russia.
Still though, America going full imperial while helping dismantle the post world order we built is surreal.
Jay
@TBone:
One of the first things ruZZia did in the mining regions of Ukraine, was to cut up headshaft structures and loot and ship back to ruZZia any functioning equipment.
So anyone who buys into a “mine”, is going to have to first, evict the ruZZians, then deal with the fact that at the most, they have bought a hole in the ground surrounded by massive toxic waste piles.
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: I guess it’s good that Bessent is visiting Kyiv. But the first thing I thought when I heard about it on the radio was that Elon Musk wanted Bessent out of the Treasury building for a few days, so his goons could wreck more stuff and steal more money.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@wjca: a bit cold though.😁
Captain C
Is it just me or has that whole WSJ reporting on the Musk-Putin phone calls (contemporaneous PBS story linked here with no paywall) gone completely down the public memory hole?
Adam, many thanks for doing this grueling and yet necessary nightly chronicle.
ed. for grammar
TBone
@Jay: thank you. After seeing the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico in actual print on my screen yesterdqy, I lost my shit a little when I read Adam’s post last night. I’ve been trying like hell to keep calm so I can carry on, but I had to let that one fly! It feels so good.
TBone
@Captain C: I remembered and semi-recently commented about it to Betty Cracker.
ETA thanks Adam. Manners don’t come natural to me this early and I can only imagine how this all feels for you when I can barely contain myself.
YY_Sima Qian
Interesting thread on an OSINT effort to track down a couple of small, obscure PRC companies making drones & drone components for the Ukrainian battlefield (probably supplying both sides). This is Part 1 focusing on a company called DSI, Part 2 to follow in a day or 2.
Small operations such as DSI are probably representative of the players catering to the demand, as the more prominent PRC defense contractors have thus far stayed out of supplying the war, due to geopolitical considerations.