Trump is seeking to loot whatever is left of Ukraine…
>The Telegraph has obtained a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025. It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.
>Donald Trump’s demand for a $500bn (£400bn) “payback” from Ukraine goes far beyond US control over the country’s critical minerals. It covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas, and the larger resource base of the country.
>The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved. The document has caused consternation and panic in Kyiv.
>The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed. “This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,” it states.
>The US will take 50pc of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources, and 50pc of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources. There will be “a lien on such revenues” in favour of the US. “That clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’,” said one source close to the negotiations.
>It states that “for all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”. Washington will have sovereign immunity and acquire near total control over most of Ukraine’s commodity and resource economy. The fund “shall have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms, and conditions” of all future licences and projects. And so forth, in this vein. It seems to have been written by private lawyers, not the US departments of state or commerce.
>President Zelensky himself proposed the idea of giving the US a direct stake in Ukraine’s rare earth elements and critical minerals on a visit to Trump Tower in September, hoping to smooth the way for continued arms deliveries.
>He calculated that it would lead to US companies setting operations on the ground, creating a political tripwire that would deter Vladimir Putin from attacking again.
>Some mineral basins are near the front line in eastern Ukraine, or in Russian-occupied areas. He has played up the dangers of letting strategic reserves of titanium, tungsten, uranium, graphite and rare earths fall into Russian hands. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” he said.
>He probably did not expect to be confronted with terms normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. They are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945. Both countries were ultimately net recipients of funds from the victorious allies.
Ashen_Brad on
Ridiculous. Why bother even tabling a plan like that.
M8753 on
Can’t trust Trump the same way you can’t trust Putin.
Also, will Europe really just let the US and Russia plunder Ukraine? To be very callous, that sounds like a lost economic opportunity. Defend Ukraine’s freedom and have them as a productive economic partner. Or allow Putin to keep Ukraine for himself, giving Europe scraps. Or maybe allow US to strangle Ukraine and then cast it away.
badstuffaround on
Impossible to sign such an agreement.
MrSpotgold on
This is beyond refusal. Let China bid, too if that is the general ilk of these “negotiations.”
*Ceterum censeo exercitum Europaeum esse creandum.*
atchijov on
Fuck Trump. Fuck MAGA US. Europe should deal with European problems. US has no business trying to blackmail the whole continent.
Wonderful_Welder_796 on
This is how Trump’s always done business. Guy’s a con-artist, a first class chancer. What did you expect?
DaniDaniDa on
The word of the year has already been decided.
*Transactional*
(*Mercantile* was the runner-up)
Windatar on
If Ukraine takes this deal then it will suffer economically and essentially become a client state of USA, Trump will then broker a deal with russia and russia will keep the land they’ve taken. The war is over. Ukraine loses in the end.
If Ukraine refuses this brokered deal, then USA pulls support out of Ukraine leaving it on its own to face Russia with only the EU’s help. The EU will then have no choice but to pay more on their military if they like it or not because Russia will just take all of Ukraine and be at EU’s borders. With an aggressor at the front and the USA pulling resources out EU will be alone and on the back foot.
No matter what Ukraine loses, EU should have kicked its own arse into gear with the first Trump term and beefed up military spending. The real loser in this is Ukraine and thats shitty.
Prestigious_Bid_7687 on
US is not interested in shared values anymore. Americans are proud of their history in their fight against dictators and Communists, but that is all that is left: Patting their backs for the virtue of their ancestors, no interest in continuing this virtue. Supporting a democracy against an autocracy? Only for money. Capitalism is their religion.
USA has become isolated. Let’s act accordingly: independent military strength, regulating their political propaganda tools (X, Meta, alphabet, etc.), investing in European tech alternatives, strengthening the Euro instead of the Dollar, and so on
sbaldrick33 on
All very well the Telegraph revealing this, as though this isn’t precisely the sort of robber baron politics that it has been, and continues to, cheer on for over twenty years.
Historical-Bar-305 on
Weird plan… Ukraine just asked for help and what we received? Another knife in the back… Thats our reward for denuclearisation and demilitarisation… Just another f.cking lesson.
halcyon_daybreak on
JFC. Maybe that dark gothic MAGA network states shit wasn’t entirely someone having fun with a video. It really does seem like Trumps obsession with land isn’t just idle talk. I hope we can continue to support Ukraine even more.
Khobay on
A deplorable strategy that involves proposing something impossible to accept in order to later say, We tried to help them, but they didn’t want it.
BiffChildFromBangor on
I think it’s time that the EU and Ukraine cut ties with Trump because that is just pure extortion or he is deliberately making unrealistic demands so that he, in his own eyes, can abandon Ukraine while looking like the good guy. There is a reason why Trump doesn’t want the EU involved which would coincide with his and his cohorts attacks on the EU.
G_UK on
Tbf that’s America through and through.
Mr_sludge on
Europe needs nukes fast.
This is a new world where America is no longer friendly to us and we better wake up.
schturegreen on
“It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.”
The irony in this statement.
Known_Limit_6904 on
Pos needs to skip to the end with a pistol in a bunker, cunt
geghetsikgohar on
He’s going to use leverage on Ukraine to buy Russias silence when war with Iran starts.
Basically selling off Ukraine land for Israel.
brezhnervous on
Its personal revenge. Trump never forgives anyone who crosses him and Zelensky’s refusal to lie and manufacture evidence about Biden’s son for Trump to use as a political weapon (which led to the humiliation of the first impeachment) is something that Trump has hated him for ever since.
NotACyclopsHonest on
Right, so in addition to annexing Canada, buying Greenland, taking back the Panama Canal and turning Gaza into the Las Vegas strip, he’s throwing Ukraine into the fire?
Fuck you, MAGA.
andreasefternamn on
Trying to buy land with glass beads again, old habits die hard I guess.
poundofcake on
I have so much shame for my country. What the actual fuck.
ValestyK on
Disgusting, the EU reaction should be tremendous but everything we have heard so far from various EU leaders makes me skeptical we have the ability to do anything about this. The world is looking bleaker than ever.
0001u on
The multiple-administration-spanning American effort to wrest Ukraine out of the Russian sphere of influence has never been some purely selfless act of noble altruism. I think Europeans (including the Ukrainians themselves) have been very naive and complacent about this.
Osgood_Schlatter on
To ask for that much, in return they should have been promising something like the liberation of all occupied Ukrainian territories and Ukraine getting NATO membership – I can’t see a country agreeing to something so extreme otherwise.
renegadeindian on
Trump needs to shut it. It’s up to the world to tell him to put his diaper over his head and get rid of his girdle.
OkKnowledge2064 on
The whole thing was never meant to be realistically acceptable by ukraine. Its just so that the US has a reason to pull out. Notice how they only talked about rare metals
mousepotatodoesstuff on
With “allies” like this, who needs Putin?
OkKnowledge2064 on
Europe needs to put defense as its #1 prio now
AwareMirror9931 on
So Ukraine is going to be fuck for either russ or usa. Sadly.
Laymanao on
Trump wants to steal what Putin wants to steal.
MalmoBeachParty on
Unbeliavable, imagine China doing 1/100 of the shit Trump is doing…
It’s time for Europe to find new allies… fuck USA
kochIndustriesRussia on
Confidential?
He has said all of this out loud.
Bango-TSW on
Then it’s time for Europe to stand up, be counted, take up the slack and give Ukraine the direct help and support it needs. Then it won’t need to kowtow to pressure from Trump and accept a deal that isn’t in its own interests.
BadOdd1861 on
This is perverse and morally abhorrent in ever possible way. This is beyond evil.
Proof-Web1176 on
Fought against Russian invasion only to come under an American one
bygonesbebygones2021 on
This is like the Treaty of Versailles except the country being published is in fact the victim and innocent party in all of this
Valuable_Cat2564 on
Land lease to the USA and we won aswell a lot went to ussr and Uk paid it all back
KamikazeSting on
Alternatively, send in European forces under joint command. Mercilessly defeat the Russians and reclaim all lost Ukrainian territory. The US will beg to join once the enemy’s virtually defeated and be forced to accept a token gesture in exchange for boots-on-the-ground protection in perpetuity.
ptemple on
Publishing Trump’s latest stupid “plan” that he made up on the spot is just comedy fodder. A plan implies some thought was put into it. This is just another of his mafia shake-downs, and those wide eyes in Kyiv were disbelief rather than panic. Trump is an international laughing stock.
Phillip.
dillanthumous on
Trump has been vocally admiring Putin for years. Nobody should be surprised by this. Shocked and outraged, yes, but not surprised.
Timujin1986 on
This is madness. I cannot believe that this 19th century Imperialist style of politics is back in fashion. This is Gunboat diplomacy and nothing more.
Who says Trump is not planning something the same for us in Europe? Some sort of ugly protection racket. America has gone berserk.
brymuse on
Perhaps he should commit to regaining Crimes if he wants Ukraine’s best ports.
The man (and all who voted for him) is a cancer.
LookThisOneGuy on
50% of revenue, not profits, is insane. Makes it impossible to run any business.
Like, I get that they wanted to avoid companies doing creative accounting to depress profits and thus reduce the US’s share. But with 50% revenue, this proposal was not meant to be agreed on. It was to portray Ukraine as unwilling to engage with the US.
Jeffery95 on
Loot, strip and abandon
Much_Educator8883 on
At this rate, Ukraine is better off seeking security guarantees from China.
48 commenti
Trump is seeking to loot whatever is left of Ukraine…
>The Telegraph has obtained a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025. It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.
>Donald Trump’s demand for a $500bn (£400bn) “payback” from Ukraine goes far beyond US control over the country’s critical minerals. It covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas, and the larger resource base of the country.
>The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved. The document has caused consternation and panic in Kyiv.
>The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed. “This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,” it states.
>The US will take 50pc of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources, and 50pc of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources. There will be “a lien on such revenues” in favour of the US. “That clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’,” said one source close to the negotiations.
>It states that “for all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”. Washington will have sovereign immunity and acquire near total control over most of Ukraine’s commodity and resource economy. The fund “shall have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms, and conditions” of all future licences and projects. And so forth, in this vein. It seems to have been written by private lawyers, not the US departments of state or commerce.
>President Zelensky himself proposed the idea of giving the US a direct stake in Ukraine’s rare earth elements and critical minerals on a visit to Trump Tower in September, hoping to smooth the way for continued arms deliveries.
>He calculated that it would lead to US companies setting operations on the ground, creating a political tripwire that would deter Vladimir Putin from attacking again.
>Some mineral basins are near the front line in eastern Ukraine, or in Russian-occupied areas. He has played up the dangers of letting strategic reserves of titanium, tungsten, uranium, graphite and rare earths fall into Russian hands. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” he said.
>He probably did not expect to be confronted with terms normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. They are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945. Both countries were ultimately net recipients of funds from the victorious allies.
Ridiculous. Why bother even tabling a plan like that.
Can’t trust Trump the same way you can’t trust Putin.
Also, will Europe really just let the US and Russia plunder Ukraine? To be very callous, that sounds like a lost economic opportunity. Defend Ukraine’s freedom and have them as a productive economic partner. Or allow Putin to keep Ukraine for himself, giving Europe scraps. Or maybe allow US to strangle Ukraine and then cast it away.
Impossible to sign such an agreement.
This is beyond refusal. Let China bid, too if that is the general ilk of these “negotiations.”
*Ceterum censeo exercitum Europaeum esse creandum.*
Fuck Trump. Fuck MAGA US. Europe should deal with European problems. US has no business trying to blackmail the whole continent.
This is how Trump’s always done business. Guy’s a con-artist, a first class chancer. What did you expect?
The word of the year has already been decided.
*Transactional*
(*Mercantile* was the runner-up)
If Ukraine takes this deal then it will suffer economically and essentially become a client state of USA, Trump will then broker a deal with russia and russia will keep the land they’ve taken. The war is over. Ukraine loses in the end.
If Ukraine refuses this brokered deal, then USA pulls support out of Ukraine leaving it on its own to face Russia with only the EU’s help. The EU will then have no choice but to pay more on their military if they like it or not because Russia will just take all of Ukraine and be at EU’s borders. With an aggressor at the front and the USA pulling resources out EU will be alone and on the back foot.
No matter what Ukraine loses, EU should have kicked its own arse into gear with the first Trump term and beefed up military spending. The real loser in this is Ukraine and thats shitty.
US is not interested in shared values anymore. Americans are proud of their history in their fight against dictators and Communists, but that is all that is left: Patting their backs for the virtue of their ancestors, no interest in continuing this virtue. Supporting a democracy against an autocracy? Only for money. Capitalism is their religion.
USA has become isolated. Let’s act accordingly: independent military strength, regulating their political propaganda tools (X, Meta, alphabet, etc.), investing in European tech alternatives, strengthening the Euro instead of the Dollar, and so on
All very well the Telegraph revealing this, as though this isn’t precisely the sort of robber baron politics that it has been, and continues to, cheer on for over twenty years.
Weird plan… Ukraine just asked for help and what we received? Another knife in the back… Thats our reward for denuclearisation and demilitarisation… Just another f.cking lesson.
JFC. Maybe that dark gothic MAGA network states shit wasn’t entirely someone having fun with a video. It really does seem like Trumps obsession with land isn’t just idle talk. I hope we can continue to support Ukraine even more.
A deplorable strategy that involves proposing something impossible to accept in order to later say, We tried to help them, but they didn’t want it.
I think it’s time that the EU and Ukraine cut ties with Trump because that is just pure extortion or he is deliberately making unrealistic demands so that he, in his own eyes, can abandon Ukraine while looking like the good guy. There is a reason why Trump doesn’t want the EU involved which would coincide with his and his cohorts attacks on the EU.
Tbf that’s America through and through.
Europe needs nukes fast.
This is a new world where America is no longer friendly to us and we better wake up.
“It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.”
The irony in this statement.
Pos needs to skip to the end with a pistol in a bunker, cunt
He’s going to use leverage on Ukraine to buy Russias silence when war with Iran starts.
Basically selling off Ukraine land for Israel.
Its personal revenge. Trump never forgives anyone who crosses him and Zelensky’s refusal to lie and manufacture evidence about Biden’s son for Trump to use as a political weapon (which led to the humiliation of the first impeachment) is something that Trump has hated him for ever since.
Right, so in addition to annexing Canada, buying Greenland, taking back the Panama Canal and turning Gaza into the Las Vegas strip, he’s throwing Ukraine into the fire?
Fuck you, MAGA.
Trying to buy land with glass beads again, old habits die hard I guess.
I have so much shame for my country. What the actual fuck.
Disgusting, the EU reaction should be tremendous but everything we have heard so far from various EU leaders makes me skeptical we have the ability to do anything about this. The world is looking bleaker than ever.
The multiple-administration-spanning American effort to wrest Ukraine out of the Russian sphere of influence has never been some purely selfless act of noble altruism. I think Europeans (including the Ukrainians themselves) have been very naive and complacent about this.
To ask for that much, in return they should have been promising something like the liberation of all occupied Ukrainian territories and Ukraine getting NATO membership – I can’t see a country agreeing to something so extreme otherwise.
Trump needs to shut it. It’s up to the world to tell him to put his diaper over his head and get rid of his girdle.
The whole thing was never meant to be realistically acceptable by ukraine. Its just so that the US has a reason to pull out. Notice how they only talked about rare metals
With “allies” like this, who needs Putin?
Europe needs to put defense as its #1 prio now
So Ukraine is going to be fuck for either russ or usa. Sadly.
Trump wants to steal what Putin wants to steal.
Unbeliavable, imagine China doing 1/100 of the shit Trump is doing…
It’s time for Europe to find new allies… fuck USA
Confidential?
He has said all of this out loud.
Then it’s time for Europe to stand up, be counted, take up the slack and give Ukraine the direct help and support it needs. Then it won’t need to kowtow to pressure from Trump and accept a deal that isn’t in its own interests.
This is perverse and morally abhorrent in ever possible way. This is beyond evil.
Fought against Russian invasion only to come under an American one
This is like the Treaty of Versailles except the country being published is in fact the victim and innocent party in all of this
Land lease to the USA and we won aswell a lot went to ussr and Uk paid it all back
Alternatively, send in European forces under joint command. Mercilessly defeat the Russians and reclaim all lost Ukrainian territory. The US will beg to join once the enemy’s virtually defeated and be forced to accept a token gesture in exchange for boots-on-the-ground protection in perpetuity.
Publishing Trump’s latest stupid “plan” that he made up on the spot is just comedy fodder. A plan implies some thought was put into it. This is just another of his mafia shake-downs, and those wide eyes in Kyiv were disbelief rather than panic. Trump is an international laughing stock.
Phillip.
Trump has been vocally admiring Putin for years. Nobody should be surprised by this. Shocked and outraged, yes, but not surprised.
This is madness. I cannot believe that this 19th century Imperialist style of politics is back in fashion. This is Gunboat diplomacy and nothing more.
Who says Trump is not planning something the same for us in Europe? Some sort of ugly protection racket. America has gone berserk.
Perhaps he should commit to regaining Crimes if he wants Ukraine’s best ports.
The man (and all who voted for him) is a cancer.
50% of revenue, not profits, is insane. Makes it impossible to run any business.
Like, I get that they wanted to avoid companies doing creative accounting to depress profits and thus reduce the US’s share. But with 50% revenue, this proposal was not meant to be agreed on. It was to portray Ukraine as unwilling to engage with the US.
Loot, strip and abandon
At this rate, Ukraine is better off seeking security guarantees from China.