Donald Trump
The blow after Trump's mineral fever: Can't get them
Emil Forsberg
Published 21.46
Donald Trump has caught mineral fever.
But it is not certain that he can seize the assets – not even if Zelenskyj says yes.
– The agreement is very strange, says Jan Eliasson.
3 controversial decisions – from Trump's first month
1:18After weeks of secret peace negotiations between Ukraine and the US, where Trump toughened the tone against Russia and threatened with punitive tariffs, the president has now made a complete U-turn.
Trump has now launched a hard-hitting attack on Volodymyr Zelenskyj and accused the Ukrainian president of being a dictator who will not have his country left.
– He has more or less chosen a side and shares Putin's views on Ukraine. He has rejected a future NATO membership for Ukraine and that they should get back their full territory, says Jan Eliasson, former foreign minister and deputy secretary-general of the UN.
Is this a game on Trump's part?
- He has a technique from his previous activities to play hard and make shocking statements and then sometimes back down and make it look reasonable after the first statement. So it is a technique he has used that many still hope for here. That he will finally realize that you cannot let Ukraine down, as is happening now, says Eliasson and continues:- But on the other hand, he also feels a strong community with great powers like Russia and China. He sees a development where the big ones can exploit their position of power and take matters into their own hands. And that is what we are now seeing before us. It is a bit shocking for many.
Zelensky not ready
Trump has also expressed that he wantsworth $500 billion in exchange for the support the US has already given Ukraine during the almost three-year war.
Negotiations have been going on for weeks and as recently as Saturday, sources close to Zelensky stated that he is not ready to sign an agreement, AFP reports.
But even if he says yes, it is not certain that he will get his rare earth metals.
– Ukraine has several deposits containing rare earth metals, but none of these deposits have been mined, says Ukraine expert Elena Safirova to AFP.
Eliasson: “Very strange”
The costs are expected to be enormous if one were to try and thus it will not be profitable to extract, according to the expert.Jan Eliasson describes Trump's proposed agreement as “very strange”.
– I have also heard another thing, namely that several of these deposits are also located in Russian-controlled areas. And in that case it is of less value to Russia. But it is the principle itself that is remarkable, he says and continues:
– It is about the US wanting compensation for the costs, the funds that they have spent on Ukraine, approximately 200 billion dollars. And they want that money back. But what many forget is that the majority of that money is in American defense companies. It is not something that has gone to Ukraine. If there is an agreement, I think that is what Zelenskyj is hoping for, that they will then receive a security commitment from the US. To prevent new attacks.
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