Trump Seeks an Economic Deal With Russia, Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Russia
On the third anniversary of invasion, Trump says he’s talking to Moscow about an economic development deal.
U.S. Votes Against U.N. Resolution Condemning Russia for Ukraine War
Earlier today I told a friend that Ukraine better sign a deal on mineral rights or Trump would work out a deal with Russia. And here we are.
The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. Votes Against U.N. Resolution Condemning Russia for Ukraine War
The U.S. on Monday sided with Russia, Belarus and North Korea against a United Nations resolution condemning Moscow for the war in Ukraine, a major shift as President Trump said he was in talks with Russia about an economic-development deal.
The Biden administration took pride in leading Western powers in an alliance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, marshaling a far-reaching effort to punish Moscow through economic sanctions. Then-President Joe Biden emerged as a leading critic of Putin on the world stage and framed the conflict as one of democracy versus autocracy.
But Trump has positioned himself as a dealmaker willing to negotiate directly with Russia’s leader to end the war, and he suggested on Monday that he is willing to revive economic relations with Russia, potentially unraveling the Biden administration’s efforts. He has also stressed that American taxpayers will benefit from his negotiations via access to mineral deposits.
Following a meeting at the White House on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said that his administration is “making a decisive break” with Biden’s approach and is on the verge of inking an agreement with Ukraine that would provide the U.S. with access to that country’s natural resources. Key to the deal, Trump said, is that U.S. taxpayers can “recoup” some of the billions spent defending the Eastern European nation.
Macron, standing next to Trump at a news conference in the East Room of the White House, emphasized that any accord to end the war should include an expansive security guarantee for Ukraine and that he envisions peacekeepers on the ground to enforce it. He also suggested that Trump had agreed that the U.S. would play some unspecified role in supporting a peacekeeping mission.
Earlier on Monday, Washington’s attempt to kill off a Ukrainian resolution blaming Russia for the war failed with the U.N.’s General Assembly, a body that represents all 193 U.N. member states, approving the resolution. The U.S. ended up abstaining on its own competing resolution after the brief text, which focused purely on calls to end the conflict, was amended by the Europeans to clearly support Ukraine.
A separate vote was expected at the U.N. Security Council later Monday that the U.S. appeared ready to push through regardless of European opposition. The U.S. needs nine out of 15 Security Council votes for its resolution to pass. France and Britain, which supported Ukraine’s resolution at the General Assembly, have veto powers to block the U.S. text if they chose to.
Trump declined to answer a reporter’s question about why the U.S. didn’t endorse the resolution that blamed Russia for the war. “I would rather not explain it now, but it’s sort of self-evident, I would think,” he said in the Oval Office on Monday. U.S. officials have said the priority now is to craft a peace deal and its resolution was aimed at that goal, not to past events.
A deal giving the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits could provide a new incentive for the Trump administration to help the country. “I call it an economic security guarantee,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on Fox News. He added that more investment through U.S. companies in Ukraine means that the U.S. will have more interest in Ukraine’s future.
Trump said he had asked Putin about the idea for European troops to serve as peacekeepers, and Putin had agreed.
Origin of the War
“I would rather not explain it now, but it’s sort of self-evident, I would think,” said Trump.
I agree.
What’s the Real Background Story Behind Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine?
On February 24, 2022, I discussed The Real Background Story Behind Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.
What Happened in Ukraine?
The mess today in Ukraine has its roots in the 2014 when democratically elected Ukrainian President Yanukovych was toppled in a US-backed coup.
Q: Why did the US want to get rid of Yanukovych?
A: Because he was against Ukraine joining NATO.
McCain dined with Svoboda Party leader Oleg Tyagnibok. The Svoboda Party is a group of neo-Nazis.
The citizens of Ukraine were used as pawns in yet another US mission that backfired.
Well who cares about Neo-Nazis as long as they want Ukraine in NATO.
And that’s the rest of the story US media will not discuss.
This no way absolves Putin, but US meddling backfires again, and again, and again.
US Meddling
US meddling made a mess in Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Israel, and damn near every place we have meddled.
The way to stop meddling is to impose a severe penalty of those who support such actions. Guess what. Meddling would stop instantaneously.
We cannot afford these idiotic wars and history suggests we should not try even if we could afford them. We wasted trillions upon trillions of dollars and all we have done is make more enemies.
UK Meddling
Three weeks into the war, Turkey mediated an agreement that had (a) Russian withdrawal, (b) Ukraine remains neutral (c) the Eastern provinces becoming semiautonomous but Crimea remains in Russia.
The war would have been over.
The West pressured Ukraine not to accept those terms and to fight to the last Ukrainian. Boris Johnson delivered the big message in person to Zelensky.
Hundreds of billions of dollars damage later, and tens of thousands of lives lost, Ukraine will get a much worse deal.
Ukraine Already Lost the War But the EU Hasn’t Figured That Out
Earlier today I posted Ukraine Already Lost the War But the EU Hasn’t Figured That Out
A negotiated settlement, land for peace is what I said in 2022. Terms now include mineral rights.
The Goal and a Mission
Like it or not, we now have a goal and a mission. They are one and the same, end the war. The war will end as I repeatedly stated since 2022, a negotiated settlement.
You can agree or disagree with Trump’s approach or the appeasement of Putin. But you cannot change the facts.
The longer Zelensky holds out the more territory Ukraine will lose.
The EU said it is willing to commit troops, I said no. My no was in reference to before there was a deal.
Take away threats, and yeah, the EU will gladly do the minimum to take credit for helping.
Meanwhile, Zelensky is holding out for the impossible, NATO membership.
The EU has no say in a deal and the longer Zelensky holds out, the more territory Ukraine will lose.
