- cross-posted to:
- ukraine@sopuli.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- ukraine@sopuli.xyz
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, rejected an offer by the Trump administration to relinquish half of the country’s mineral resources in exchange for U.S. support, according to five people briefed on the proposal or with direct knowledge of the talks.
The unusual deal would have granted the United States a 50 percent interest in all of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including graphite, lithium and uranium, according to two European officials. Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, who presented the deal to Ukraine, said Sunday that the United States wanted the minerals “as payback for the aid we’ve given them” — leaving unclear whether the deal would cover future military and financial assistance.
A Ukrainian official and an energy expert briefed on the proposal said that the Trump administration sought not only Ukraine’s minerals but additional natural resources, including oil and gas. The proposal, they said, would entitle the United States to half of Ukraine’s resource earnings — funds that are today mostly invested in the country’s military and defense production.
Don’t know about the other countries,but Afghanistan is a bit special. Many invaders have tried, and failed. I guess the mountainous terrain doesn’t make it any easier. Seems to me that nobody is capable of conquering Afghanistan. When you hear about another empire trying their luck, you know it’s going to drain their power.
Vietnam has historically been pretty brutal for invaders too. Between the end of the third Chinese domination and the start of the French colonial period, they went almost a thousand years rarely ever losing a war. They even fended the Mongols off
Let me guess, it was the jungle. I recall from history class, that China is protected by a massive jungle on one side, which has kept potential invaders from trying that direction. Maybe the same is true for Vietnam as well.
I assume it must have played a role. The Chinese border with Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar has some pretty damn big mountains too, which is one of the other classic “invading through this sucks” features
Yeah - the US was just unlucky. They lost these ones + the korean war. But anywhere else they would win. Maybe except in Russia. Or china. Or a few others. But except for that they would win
The US was lucky that Afghanistan didn’t drain all of their money and power. It was already a total disaster, but it could have been even worse.