Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumPutin is DONE and he knows it MINERAL DEAL SIGNED Ukraine War Update
(26:02)

vapor2
(2,207 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(55,108 posts)I think attacking pragmatists for being pragmatic should be a non-starter.
I get that tRump, per se, can't be trusted, but there are mechanisms beyond tRump's simple say-so.
louis-t
(24,289 posts)Better to take half and save your country. I think he knows Fat Orange will try to screw him over but it's worth a shot.
Warpy
(113,287 posts)except someone has seemingly got through to King Carbuncle that war reparations were inappropriate. If it's anything like one of the early deals (and I hope it is), it's a win-win,not only for the things Rehi stated but also because Ukraine isn't capable of extracting their resources while the US can supply equipment and training. Ukraine gets good jobs and shares in the profit. It seems we get first dibs on the minerals, the most important of which is titanium (sorry, Artur). Having access to a reasonably large deposit will further reduce any dependence on China.
It also does give the US a compelling stake in stopping any Russian advance and denying them the land grab Putin so clearly wants. There is no way to extract any of the stuff we want if bullets and artillery are flying around. My gut says The Rotted Pumpkin will attempt a dirty deal to recognize Russian ownership of Crimea. It's a deal that won't last but might be enough of a sop to Russian pride to stop the shooting until Putin is dead and gone to dust.
patphil
(7,738 posts)What are Trump and Putin up to?
2naSalit
(96,632 posts)They are all pulling each other's chain somewhere in each agreement.