A map provided by Ukrainian group UnitedMedia 24 shows the location of critical mineral resources across the country from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-rare-earth-minerals-trump-zelensky-b2700612.html
We all see the movements of the interested players. Ukraine's good fortune in having soil rich in certain elements, such as certain minerals called rare earths, or even graphite, oil or gas, turned out to be too attractive for its greedy neighbor, which doesn't allow a country to prosper “next door”... And now it has even triggered interest on the other side of the Atlantic!
An America that is trying to find places to collect precious rare metals, to overcome its “dependence” on China as a supplier, will catapult the relations established so far to a place that has not yet been glimpsed, but which is beginning to take shape.
But Russia's strategy has been “seen” before. In March 1938, after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler wanted to annex what was then known as Czechoslovakia. His pretext was also to restore the deprivation suffered by ethnic Germans living in the northern and western border regions.
WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THIS BEFORE?
And Czechoslovakia wasn't listened to either when it was annexed in the so-called Munich Pact. AND ALSO UNDER THE PRETEXT OF BRINGING WORLD PEACE...
A fragmented world in the midst of the energy revolution. Will everything count? Can the sovereignty of each country not be respected, and in the end the most powerful will always prevail? We're going to see a Ukraine subjugated to the interests of two nations - Russia and the USA - who will divide the prisoner's clothes between them and cast lots for his tunic (Reference to the Bible passage Psalm 22:18)
Doesn't Ukraine itself and the rest of the world have a say in all this? Will Russia stick around? I don't think weakening a nation like Ukraine will help... In fact, it seems to me that it will only act as oxygen for the fire that Putin has inside him. It will only give the dictator the courage to take over other countries using the brute and destructive force of war.
In 2014, Russia forcefully seized the Crimea region in order to control the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, but it wasn't just the trade routes it was trying to control... The entire soil of that region, as we can see from the map, is full of coal and rare minerals.
On the other side of the ocean, Trump's words are seen as jubilant, of course. It seems that a graceful exit from NATO will bring an economic advantage to Uncle Sam's coffers. And indeed, this is true. On this point, Europe has fallen behind. It hasn't invested in defense, nor has it invested in expanding its allies. Today, only today, it is beginning to wake up... to a very harsh reality. Its long-time ally is threatening an almost certain exit. Extremist forces are also threatening a Europe that should remain united, but is becoming increasingly fragmented... And who doesn't like to see their enemies divided? Divide and conquer... Could this be the recipe for a collapse of European ideals?
Accused of censoring ideas and creating leaders chosen by certain groups, European countries end up being the target of these unfounded accusations. Just yesterday, President Trump gloried in accusing Zelenskyy of being a dictator and of not being the chosen one of his people... using the same arguments as the self-styled and undemocratically elected Russian “Tsar” lider (read with a cynical tone).
And on the other hand, we have China, looking at all this as a great opportunity to broaden its economic horizons.
I'm very much looking forward to what the next ceasefire negotiations might bring. But never without this agreement being reached without the nation that has been assaulted, and continues to be assaulted on a daily basis with suicide drone strikes on civilian structures, being present and an important stakeholder.
Image from idependent.co.uk
