(CLO) The British Telegraph newspaper said it had obtained a copy of the peace plan proposed by the Trump administration for Ukraine, an agreement that is said to have caused confusion and panic in Kiev.
According to the draft, marked “Privilege & Confidential,” signed on February 7, the plan calls for Ukraine to repay a “debt” of $500 billion to the United States. The agreement includes the right to exploit Ukraine’s natural resources, infrastructure, ports, and oil and gas assets, while also ensuring the United States gets 50 percent of the revenue from these resources as well as new exploitation licenses.
The deal also gives the US a “right of first refusal” on future Ukrainian mineral exports, while gaining sovereign immunity and control over nearly the entire country’s resource economy.
The terms have led some observers to compare them to the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany after World War I, but with an even larger scale of reparations.
Mr Zelenskyy proposed that the US take a stake in Ukraine's mineral production when he met Mr Trump last September. Photo: Press service of the President of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously proposed cooperation with the United States in mineral exploitation to attract investment and military support, but the terms of the new plan go far beyond what Kiev expected.
Ukrainian officials at the Munich Security Conference had to strike a balance between welcoming resource cooperation and opposing provisions that violate their own laws.
Mr Trump claimed that Ukraine had “basically agreed” to the $500 billion and warned that if Kiev refused, it could “become part of Russia one day”. He also stressed that the US had already spent $300 billion on Ukraine, although the actual amount approved by Congress was $175 billion, mostly in the form of loan-lease.
Senator Lindsey Graham suggested that Mr Trump’s proposal could be a strategy to bolster American support for Ukraine. He argued that if the mineral deal were signed, Mr Trump would have an incentive to protect it, thereby ensuring long-term support for Ukraine.
Despite the controversy, analysts point out that Ukraine’s resource potential may be overstated. The value of lithium – one of its key minerals – has plummeted 88% since 2022, and new mines around the world are making supplies more plentiful. As for shale gas, some of Ukraine’s reserves are under Russian control, while the rest are expensive to extract.
Ukraine now faces a difficult choice between accepting an economic deal seen as imposed or risk losing crucial support from Washington.
Hoai Phuong (according to Telegraph, Rawstory, Fox News)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ke-hoach-hoa-binh-cua-ong-trump-gay-hoang-loan-o-ukraine-post334993.html
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