Latest news with #Kyiv-controlled
Telegraph
01-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump's art of the deal still doesn't apply to Putin
The problem is that in the real world, the value of mineral reserves isn't calculated by multiplying the estimated tons lying under the ground by the market price. By that measure, Ukraine is sitting on untold trillions. But to get to actual cash value, you have to look at the volume of the global market for any given metal or mineral and work out how much of that market demand you can fulfil. For example, in 2024 the world bought some $29 billion of lithium (used in car batteries) and $39 billion of titanium (used in engineering). Ukraine may control some 5 per cent of the world's lithium but as yet extracts none of it, and around 7 per cent of the titanium, but again produces no refined titanium and exports only much less valuable ore. Ukraine's only graphite mine, opened in 1934, closed last December after a collapse in world prices. There's also uranium ore, but again the real value is in semi-refined yellow cake that is used to create nuclear fuel and as yet Ukraine produces none. As for the famous 'rare earth metals' – a list of fifteen elements used in electronics – Ukraine officially has none, at least according to the US Geological Survey. Then there's the problem of distribution of these minerals. Geology is no respecter of borders, and many of the largest deposits – for instance of Lithium ore – run from Kyiv-controlled into Moscow-controlled territory. This is especially true of the biggest and most valuable prize of all, a vast and unexploited natural gas field that runs across the Northern end of the basin of the Donets River, now mostly under Russian occupation. In theory, then, Ukraine does have plenty of mineral resources which will one day generate plenty of wealth – just not immediately, in the words of an old Soviet joke, and not for everybody. The Americans and Ukrainians seem to have opposite visions of exactly who stands to gain. For many US Republicans, Trump has opened up a new Klondike which will enrich American businesses. For the Ukrainians, the deal will help attract the multiple billions of dollars in investment that will be needed to extract, refine and transport the minerals from mine to market. And ironically, it's the Ukrainians who are right – they've sold Trump a fantasy that his own side will have to pay to make real. But Kyiv also hopes that now that the deal is signed the Trump White House will now become more sympathetic to their interests. Good luck with that. Earlier this week the Kremlin – in the person of the granite-faced Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – grimly re-stated that Russia's demands remained completely unchanged after three months of intensive Trump diplomacy. Trump, from his position of strength, can force his weaker Ukrainian allies to swallow their pride and dance to whichever tune he wishes. Putin, however, remains deaf to Trump's dealmaking, however artful.
Epoch Times
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Putin Signals Willingness to Hold Bilateral Truce Talks With Ukraine
Moscow is open to holding talks with Ukraine with a view to reaching a conditional cease-fire, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. 'We have always said that we treat any peace initiative positively,' Putin said in Putin made the remarks following the expiry of a unilateral 30-hour cease-fire, which he had announced over the weekend to coincide with the Easter holiday. While Kyiv has accused Russia of violating its own unilateral truce, Moscow says its forces strictly observed the Easter cease-fire, which lasted from 6 p.m. on April 19 to midnight on April 20 (Moscow time). Moscow also claims that Ukrainian forces attacked Russian positions—both military and civilian—during the cease-fire period. The Epoch Times could not independently verify battlefield claims made by either side of the conflict, which recently entered its third year. Related Stories 4/21/2025 4/19/2025 Despite allegations of cease-fire breaches, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that 'there were no air raid alerts [in Ukraine] on Easter, and some sectors of the frontline remained quiet.' 'This proves [a cease-fire] is possible ... when Russia chooses to reduce the killing,' he Zelenskyy also repeated proposals for a longer-term truce aimed at banning strikes by either side on civilian facilities. 'Ukraine stands by its offer—at the very least, not to strike civilian infrastructure,' he wrote. 'And we expect a clear answer from Moscow. 'We are ready for any conversation on how to ensure this.' In his recent remarks to the Russian press, Putin appeared to respond to Zelenskyy's proposal without mentioning the Ukrainian leader by name. 'We are always positive about a cease-fire, and this is why this [Easter truce] initiative was suggested,' Putin said. 'Regarding the proposal to refrain from striking civilian infrastructure targets—this matter requires thorough examination.' He said that Ukrainian forces often used civilian facilities 'for military purposes.' 'All such cases require meticulous investigation, possibly even on a bilateral basis through dialogue,' Putin said. 'We do not rule this out.' Speaking to reporters shortly afterward, a Kremlin spokesman appeared to 'When the president spoke about the option of negotiating the issue of not striking civilian infrastructure facilities ... he was particularly referring to negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side,' Russia's TASS news agency quoted the spokesman as saying on April 21. A Ukrainian serviceman patrols an area in the Kyiv-controlled town of Sudzha in western Kursk region, Russia, on Aug. 16, 2024. Yan Dobronosov/Reuters Russia Claims Capture of Kursk Monastery In a related development, Russia claims to have captured a strategic 'Our servicemen have liberated the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in Gornal,' TASS quoted a security source as saying on April 22. 'The Ukrainian resistance [in Kursk] has been crushed.' Located near the Russia–Ukraine border, Gornal is one of the last remaining settlements in Kursk in which Ukrainian forces still maintain an active presence. 'The monastery complex ... was considered by the enemy exclusively as a military facility,' the security source told TASS. Kyiv has yet to respond to Russian claims regarding the capture of the monastery, which The Epoch Times could not independently verify. Last summer, Ukrainian forces staged a cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk region, where they initially captured several hundred square miles of territory. Since then, however, they have been forced to retreat from most of the region, where they still reportedly hold a small sliver of territory near the border. According to the Russian military, more than
