The United States is reportedly nearing a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, according to Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East. He said that any potential deal would require both territorial and economic concessions from both sides. “You will see concessions from both sides. And this is what the president does best. […]
The current U.S. proposal regarding Ukraine’s critical minerals seeks 50% of revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources while offering no security guarantees in return, according to a draft of the agreement seen by the New York Times (NYT). The U.S. and Ukraine have been working intensively over the past few days to hammer out the details […]
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has denied reports that the United States threatened to shut off Starlink in Ukraine unless Kyiv agreed to a minerals deal. Responding to a report by Reuters, Musk called the claim “false” and accused the news agency of lying. He offered no evidence to back up his statement. His response came […]
Different team, still the same Juan Soto. In his first spring training at-bat with the New York Mets, Soto crushed a 426-foot opposite field home run off the Houston Astros’ Colton Gordon to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first inning Saturday. Soto signed the most lucrative contract in professional sports history this […]
Ukrainian and U.S. officials were at the table overnight and into the morning discussing an “improved” bilateral rare earth mineral deal on Feb. 21, Axios reported. The U.S. is looking to obtain 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, NBC reported on Feb. 15. Washington has signaled openness to deploy American troops to guard these resources […]
Within weeks of U.S. President Donald Trump saying he wanted to do a deal with Kyiv on its “rare earths and other things,” it became clear the U.S. wasn’t just interested in Ukraine’s critical minerals and rare earth elements. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Kyiv on Feb. 12 to present a deal to President […]
The Trump administration may try to push through a simplified initial version of the U.S.-Ukraine deal on natural resources extraction, with details to be sorted out at a later date, Reuters reported on Feb. 20, citing two undisclosed sources. The news comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he aims to “resurrect” talks on […]
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. U.S. President Donald Trump is “much more confident” that he will secure a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine following talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18. A U.S. delegation met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other […]
The United States offered Ukraine “a colonial agreement” on exchanging Ukrainian rare earth minerals for U.S. military aid, a former senior Ukrainian official told the Associated Press (AP) on Feb. 16. The comment comes after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a draft of the agreement to President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 12. Zelensky refused […]
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Feb. 14 that Russia would be reintegrated into the world economy and Europe’s energy system once a peace deal is reached in the Russia-Ukraine war, Reuters reported. “If the U.S. president comes and creates peace, there is a deal, I think Russia will be reintegrated into the world […]
The following op-ed is based on a broader report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), published on Feb. 11, 2025. Some peace deals lead to peace; others lead to more war. The Minsk II deal, aimed at ending Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, instead laid the groundwork for Russia’s full-scale […]
On Feb. 10, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that he aimed to secure “$500 billion worth of rare earth” minerals as part of negotiations over continued U.S. support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. When history repeats itself, it’s time to reflect. At the beginning of 1918, amid World War I, Germany and […]