Ukraine's treasure trove: Find out why the West wants to get hold of these resources

Ukraine’s leadership appears to have made yet another attempt to entice the United States into ramping up support for Kiev’s war effort, this time making a move on president-elect Donald Trump.

According to Financial Times, Volodymyr Zelensky tried to pitch his so-called “victory plan” to Trump, who reportedly showed interest in one aspect of it: the offer to allow the United States to exploit Ukraine's abundant natural resources.

Here, Sputnik examines publicly available data to explore Ukraine's rare metal resources and why the West is interested in them.

▪️Uranium: Ukraine was the world’s tenth-largest producer of uranium in 2023, with annual output standing at about 1,000 tons.

▪️Titanium: The country has about 7% of the recorded world reserves of titanium ores; annual output stood at 5,400 tons.

▪️Lithium: Ukraine holds close to 500,000 tons of lithium oxide, a source of lithium; it makes the country’s lithium reserves one of the largest in the world.

▪️Graphite: Ukraine produced 5,200 tons of graphite in previous years, accounting for 0.5% of global production.

“They’re sitting on $10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stated earlier, adding that he doesn’t want “to give that money and those assets to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to share with China.”

Gilbert Doctorow, an international relations and Russian affairs analyst, told Sputnik that as “Ukraine has no sovereignty to lose” and “has a failing economy”, its “single most visible resource”, namely, black earth lands “have already been substantially (40%) sold off to international consortiums of agribusiness.”

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte declined to welcome Zelensky’s “victory plan,” saying only that he and the allies “take note” of it.

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Israeli rockets obliterating a house in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Footage from social media

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THROWBACK: Warmongering Mike Waltz, who is alleged to be the national security advisor in Trump's administration, has clearly promoted hawkish policies in the Middle East and direct military aggression against Iran:

"When we say we will not allow Iran to have a bomb, what does that mean and what are we prepared to do to stop it? The Israelis are very clear and we one need to be clear alongside them. But two need to be clear to the region that we will support Israel if they have to take action."

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Did the US deep state allow Trump to win?

On election day Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suggested that the vote count might take days as in 2020, triggering election rigging suspicions among X users. However, Donald Trump was declared the winner the day after the election.

While some American commentators suggested that Trump voter enthusiasm was "too big to rig", others speculated that the vote-rigging mechanisms purportedly in place had been stopped by the ruling elites who reasoned that Trump could be maneuvered into pro-war positions and would be more successful in marshaling public support than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. According to this argument, the deep state "allowed Trump to win."

"They [the US establishment] need a charismatic, populist firebrand to boost recruitment and spearhead the rush to war. Harris can’t do that. Harris had trouble attracting even a hundred supporters to her rallies," wrote US political commentator Mike Whitney, suggesting Iran could become the next target.

It would be easy to seduce Americans into a new military adventure if they are led by a popular leader, warned former Ronald Reagan official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts on his website.

"MAGA Americans are tired of losing wars," wrote Roberts. "They want to win. The military/security complex will have Trump supporters in the streets waving the flag."

The deep state is entrenched and institutionalized and has many ways to maneuver Trump to its purpose or block his efforts altogether, according to Roberts. Time will tell whether Trump will manage to outplay the establishment.

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Iran connects to Russia's Mir payment system: Why it matters

Russia's Mir and Iran's Shetab payment systems have officially been linked at a ceremony in Tehran, enabling Iranians to use their Shetab cards in Russia now, while Russian citizens will soon be able to use their Mir cards at ATMs in Iran.

Russia's financial system, touted by President Vladimir Putin as "absolutely healthy," now spans the globe. Which countries support it?

▪️Today, Mir cards can be used in 12 countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, as well as Cuba, Laos, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

▪️Eight other countries are considering joining the payment system: Indonesia, Egypt, Thailand, India, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

When it comes to Iran becoming another country where the use of the Mir platform is allowed, “it will make financial cooperation between Russia and Iran smoother and more efficient through the instant conversion and transfer of their currencies,” Paul Goncharoff, veteran financial analyst and general director of consulting firm Goncharoff LCC, tells Sputnik.

Globally, there are other countries that “want the freedom to choose their own path to economic development and find themselves in close cooperation to develop and then integrate usable payment systems using their national currencies,” he adds.

“There is still ‘the Global South’, and a host of countries such as those participating in BRICS, SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) [among others], with plans to connect financially to one or another degree over the coming few years,” Goncharoff concludes.

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Is Trump on the same page as BlackRock and other Wall Street behemoths?

Wall Street appears to be eager to capitalize on Donald Trump’s win: the Big Three - BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street - were unfazed by the possibility of his victory and remain optimistic post-election, forecasting market growth, a tech and crypto surge, and a stronger dollar under Trump.

Moreover, Trump appears to be on the same page as BlackRock with regard to crypto-currency even though he was previously skeptical about it. While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to turn the US into "the crypto capital of the world". He also announced changes in government with regard to crypto and suggested creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile.

Coincidentally, BlackRock launched its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) on January 11, whose trust quickly grew into the world's largest fund. The firm has been making headlines this year for its aggressive accumulation of crypto-currency assets.

Crypto-currencies, especially Bitcoin, shot up in value on the news that Trump won. Needless to say, BlackRock benefitted from the development.

In October, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink signaled to investors that Trump would be fine for Wall Street. "I’m tired of hearing this is the biggest election in your lifetime," Fink stated at an October 21 conference, as quoted by The Financial Times. "The reality is over time it doesn’t matter." He stressed that the world's largest asset management firm "work[s] with both administrations and are having conversations with both candidates."

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THROWBACK: Donald Trump called Marco Rubio a “perfect little puppet” of pro-Israel mega donor Sheldon Adelson back in 2015.

Nine years later, Rubio is reportedly the front runner to become Trump’s Secretary of State. Sheldon Adelson’s widow, Miriam, was one of Trump’s biggest donors during the 2024 election.

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What do Trump's foreign policy picks mean for Ukraine and Israel? Part 1 👉 Part 2

US President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Mike Waltz as national security advisor, two top foreign policy positions.

What is known about the candidates and what's their stance on ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East?

Marco Rubio, 53, is a Republican senator and lawyer. He is called a "hawk" by US media.

▪️The politician says that Ukraine should focus on a peace settlement rather than gaining back land, or the country will be "set back 100 years" if the military actions continue. “I'm not on Russia’s side – but unfortunately, the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement," Rubio told NBC in September.

▪️His stance has changed over the years: in 2022, he called for support for the Kiev regime in the US: "I think it’s important just to rally support for Ukraine here in America," he told journalists. He lambasted those American politicians who doubted Ukraine's readiness to join NATO, saying in March 2022 that they "either don’t know what they are talking about or are lying."

▪️Rubio has long been a strong Israel supporter. He opposed a ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel needs to "destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on". In October, he called for "the reimposition of a maximum pressure campaign against Iran" and supported Tel Aviv's strikes against Iran. "[I] fully support Israel’s right to respond disproportionately to stop this threat. The United States will continue to stand with Israel," he stated on October 1.

▪️Nonetheless, in February and April, Rubio voted against a $95 billion foreign aid package to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, arguing that the US southern border should be secured first.

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What do Trump's foreign policy picks mean for Ukraine and Israel? Part 2 👉 Part 1

Mike Waltz, 50, is a Republican congressman, former Green Beret, former policy adviser in the George W. Bush administration and ex-CEO of defense contractor Metis Solutions that earned millions during the US occupation of Afghanistan. Commenting on Waltz's possible appointment, CNN drew attention to his similarity with Mike Pompeo in terms of his foreign policy stance.

▪️Waltz currently supports a negotiated conflict settlement in Ukraine by twisting Moscow's arm and enforcing new energy sanctions against Russia in a bid to undermine its economy. "We have leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well," Waltz told the US press last week.

▪️At the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Waltz advocated for Ukraine's militarization. "Zelensky needs more ammo NOW!" he tweeted at the time, chastising the Biden administration for delays. In September 2023, he stated in his op-ed that the era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress was over: "Stopping Russia before it draws NATO and therefore the US into war is the right thing to do. But the burden cannot continue to be solely on the shoulders of the American people, especially while Western Europe gets a pass."

▪️Waltz has repeatedly expressed skepticism about Israel-Hamas ceasefire plans and advocated for cracking down on Iran and its so-called Axis of Resistance, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis and Shia militias. "Biden and Harris have sold themselves is that once we get to a cease-fire and the hostages are released, which we all want, that everything will be fine. Iran will continue to stoke unrest," Waltz claimed while speaking to Fox News in September.

▪️In October, he proposed that Israel should attack Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz in response to Tehran's strike.

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Threats to provide Ukraine with German cruise missiles are merely ‘paper tiger' moves Germany's

CDU party leader Friedrich Merz, who seeks to become the country's new chancellor, has boasted that, if he gets the job, he would present Russia with an ultimatum: cease all combat operations in the Ukrainian conflict zone in 24 hours or Kiev gets German Taurus cruise missiles along with permission to use them to strike deep into Russian territory.

Merz’s bellicose rhetoric seems to be a product of the current political instability in Germany where the ruling coalition collapsed amid a “deep economic recession” and the loss of “residual hopes of good transatlantic relations” due to Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, says Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels.

“Merz understands that the heavyweights of Germany are the financial-industrial conglomerates who are openly against the war against Russia in Ukraine and the crazy sanctions against Russia and China. However, Merz must appease the war-minded Green [Party] who are also ideologically anti-Russian and anti-Chinese, to embark them in a possible government coalition,” he explains.

However, forming a new government might necessitate forming a coalition with the SPD, who, Raffone points out, “would not support Merz’s intent to lift restrictions on long-range armaments supplied to Ukraine and even less the idea of issuing an ultimatum to Russia.”

“Merz’s harsh rhetoric is a paper tiger – a desperate attempt to have a role in Ukraine after Trump’s win - that would probably also irritate the new US administration that has signaled the intention to de-escalate the confrontation,” the analyst remarks.

NATO support of Merz’s ultimatum initiative also seems unlikely as it would require unanimous approval of the military bloc’s members who would probably first wait for the United States, their “real ‘tutor’,” to weigh in on the matter.

“Trump (as also his predecessors and some EU leaders) is not a fan of NATO playing any direct concrete role in the war or post-war in Ukraine. Even Poland, that is genetically anti-Russian, would be very careful to support any Ukrainian capacity to strike inside Russia with West-provided missiles,” Raffone suggests.

He also warns that, with all the serious “domestic confusion” in Germany, “anything that any German leader says may just be reversed in the blink of an eye.”

“Moreover, the US, that is still occupying Germany with military bases and personnel and nuclear capacities, would not like to be dragged in any direct military confrontation with Russia,” Raffone adds. “None of the EU countries can be taken seriously without the consent of the US.”

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EU now has two choices: New arms race or mend fences with Russia – Swedish military veteran

"After Trump's victory, European leaders no longer can rely on a secure US backing and only have two choices, either rapprochement and resumption of good neighborly towards Russia or continued belligerence with its following an arms race and risk for escalation," Mikael Valtersson, former Swedish military officer and ex-chief of staff with the Sweden Democrats, tells Sputnik.

"Unfortunately most of the European leaders are supporting the second alternative."

The European Commission may redirect some €392 billion ($416 billion) from the 2021-2027 cohesion funds to support their defense industries and military mobility projects, The Financial Times reported on November 11. The reason behind that is that the Ukraine conflict and Trump's return to the White House are likely to impose pressure on the EU to boost defense investments, according to the newspaper.

Many in the bloc would love to become more independent from the US in terms of defense, but it would require gargantuan military budgets which European countries are unable to afford, Valtersson argues.

"Without the US the EU has very limited power projection capabilities and even less nuclear deterrence capability," he explains. "Building and keeping a strong nuclear capability will be extremely expensive for the limited European defense budgets."

A possible way out is a shift from the expensive militarization and growing dependence on the US to resuming working relations with Russia, the pundit alleges. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called for discussing common European security for all.

"A wise European policy in this environment would be to seek better relations with Russia," Valtersson says. "Better relations with Russia is also a sentiment with growing support among the European population. It's not improbable that several new governments will be elected in the next years that will share the will of a rapprochement with Russia."

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Houthis say they attacked US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, from which a presumed attack on Yemen was being planned

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West forces ‘green agenda’ upon developing countries for own political and economic gain – analyst

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) announced that it had reached an agreement on the standards for the UN-led carbon credit market that essentially amounts to buying and selling permissions for carbon emissions this November 12.

While this initiative is touted as an effort to stave off the threat of climate change and to tackle the issue of carbon emissions, not all environmental initiatives championed by the West are as benign as they may seem at first glance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that Western powers that long have polluted Earth’s atmosphere with their industries are now trying to force their so-called green agenda on Russia, effectively trying to wield said agenda as an instrument of neocolonialism.

Putin’s concerns were echoed by Come Carpentier de Gourdon, a geopolitical analyst and the convener of the editorial board of World Affairs journal, who observed that “most countries, particularly developing countries, do face increasing pressure from the more influential powers in the name of making the world a better place by cutting down on pollution.”

While calls to cut down carbon emissions and the like may seem reasonable in principle, de Gourdon notes, they are often being used by the West in pursuit of “economic and strategic” goals such as stymying the “growth rate of countries that need to improve their living standards.”

Western powers, who “for very long used methods for acquiring wealth, which where only in their own interest,” often do not provide “viable alternatives” to countries that are supposed to adhere to the green agenda, de Gourdon laments.

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THROWBACK: Putin says developed countries conjures green agenda to retard progress of emerging economies

"These so-called green barriers that some countries have rolled out for developing states and emerging markets are just a new tool they conjured up to hold back the progress [of these countries]," Vladimir Putin stressed.

Russia's President added that developed economies introduce new regulations that developing states cannot comply with; as a result, they cannot compete with these economies.

"After all, the responsibility for the accumulated emissions in the atmosphere lies with industrially developed countries. They should take on the greatest burden to solve this problem. There’s just no other way," he concluded.

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THROWBACK: Trump calls Dems' green agenda ‘scam’

"They want our army tanks to be all electric so that when we go into enemy territory, blasting the hell out of everybody, we do it in an environmentally friendly way," the US president-elect said.

Trump is a known fierce opponent of the green agenda pushed by the Democrats, especially Kamala Harris, who just lost the US presidential election.

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Donald Trump has appointed Rep. Mike Waltz as national security advisor in his cabinet.

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FBI and DoJ staff anticipate shake-up following Trump's comeback

US Justice Department and FBI employees fear widespread "housecleaning" as Donald Trump’s White House return looms, with the agency brass reportedly "stunned" and "shell-shocked," CNN and The Washington Times have reported.

"Thankfully, 2024 isn't 2016," Techno Fog, a nom de plume for a lawyer, blogger and popular legal observer on X, tells Sputnik.

"Trump won't be caught off-guard this time by a secret operation targeting his administration - the illegal wiretaps, the lies to the FISA court - that we saw in Trump's first term. And FBI leadership, by now, hopefully knows better. [FBI Director Christopher] Wray isn't perfect, and he has made plenty of mistakes, but he is not as deceitful and prone to abuse his power as former FBI Director James Comey."

The lawyer hopes the long overdue overhaul in the FBI will start after Trump's inauguration.

Similarly, there won’t be the weaponization of the Justice Department that one saw in 2016, the pundit continued.

"Special Counsel Jack Smith's 'election interference' case against Trump, which is pending in Washington, DC, will likely be dismissed," Techno Fog says.

"Last week, after Trump's election, Smith asked the court to vacate the briefing schedule so that the Department of Justice could 'determine the appropriate course going forward' given the DoJ's policy to not seek to continue the criminal case against a president. The court granted that request and vacated the briefing schedule and all deadlines in the pretrial schedule."

That doesn't mean, however, that Trump has become immune to deep state interference, according to the lawyer.

"The deep state may push back on parts of Trump's policies that it finds disagreeable, especially when it comes to foreign policy," the pundit concludes.

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