Rare earth Agreement and what is wrong with it — Media

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has offered Ukraine a minerals deal in exchange for military assistance. However, the terms of the agreement are similar to those that would normally be in place for countries that are aggressors and have been defeated in war.

This was reported by The Telegraph on Tuesday, February 18.

Agreement on rare earth

The article says that the terms of this agreement "significantly exceed" those imposed on Germany and Japan after the end of World War II. The author noted that the agreement means the economic colonization of Ukraine by the United States, legally fixed indefinitely.

According to the document, the United States will receive 50% of the revenues from resource extraction and 50% of the value of "all new licenses issued to third parties" to monetize resources — these revenues will be confiscated in favor of the U.S.

Impact on the Ukrainian economy

According to a source close to the negotiations, this clause means "pay us first, and then feed your children". The agreement stipulates that the United States will have the right of first refusal on all licenses to purchase exported minerals. This will give the United States almost complete control over most of Ukraine's natural resource economy.

The Telegraph compared that after World War II, the reparations imposed on the Weimar Republic amounted to about $269 billion in modern terms, while in the case of Ukraine, the equivalent is $500 billion.

"Ukraine cannot possibly meet his $500bn demand in any meaningful timeframe, leaving aside the larger matter of whether it is honourable to treat a victim nation in this fashion after it has held the battle line for the liberal democracies at enormous sacrifice for three years. Who really has a debt to whom, may one ask?" journalists add.

Earlier, Zelenskyy didn't sign the Agreement on economic cooperation between Ukraine and U.S.

On February 17, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement aimed at liberalizing trade between the two countries.