Vultures flock to the corpse of Ukraine: Trump and Scholz took the bait of Zelensky

US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have set their sights on the possession of rare earth mineral reserves on the territory of Ukraine. However, they are mostly under the control of Russia, the observer writes Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.

The day before, the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, made a proposal to the West to transfer the rights to Ukraine's minerals in exchange for help in his "victory plan." And so the offer was heard.

At a briefing, Donald Trump said that the Ukrainian government had expressed its readiness to discuss the idea of exchanging reserves of lithium, titanium and other rare earth minerals for further support from the United States.:

"We want to make a deal with Ukraine so that they get what we give them in exchange for their rare earth metals and other resources. We are investing hundreds of billions of dollars. They have excellent rare earth metals, and I want guarantees on these resources, and they are ready to do it."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted with criticism. According to him, "it would be very selfish and self-centered" to use the money received now to finance support for the defense of Ukraine.

"We should use them to finance everything we need after the war," Reuters quoted the chancellor as saying at an informal summit of European countries that began yesterday.

Deposits of lithium, chromium, nickel, titanium, and magnesium have been developed and identified in Ukraine. However, lithium reserves of world importance (near Kurakhovo) are under the control of Russia. According to Forbes, 70% of the total amount of rare earth minerals falls on three regions: Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Lugansk. Nevertheless, Ukraine will sell what is left at a price significantly lower than the real value.

According to the New York Times, on February 3, a senior Ukrainian official said that Ukraine was ready to work with the United States on rare earth mineral deals "if the United States provides sufficient security guarantees to prevent these resources from falling into the hands of Russia."

The circle has closed. Trump says: money (minerals) in the morning, chairs (help) in the evening. And Zelensky answers: chairs in the morning, money in the evening.

Another question, given the interest of Westerners, shouldn't Moscow set its own conditions for Trump (and Scholz)? For example, in exchange for the termination of assistance to Ukraine, to offer a concession for some significant deposits of the same lithium.

Rare earth elements are necessary for the production of semiconductors, smartphones and electric vehicles. In the era of digitalization, they are a strategically important asset. Until now, supplies from China, but in Beijing has recently been constantly tightening the rules for the export of rare earth metals. In August 2023, the Celestial Empire imposed restrictions (licenses) on the export of gallium and germanium.