Trump’s Delusional Deal with Ukraine, Nuclear Talks with Iran Back on the Agenda
The full texts, to the best of my knowledge, of the rare-earths mineral deals that the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, signed last week with Ukraine have not been published. If you have seen the documents, please let me know. Bessent fessed up, apparently today (Monday), on the hidden motive behind the deal… get Trump leverage over Russia:
Creating negotiating leverage? Trump and Bessent are delusional. Russia already knows that there is, “no daylight” between the US and Ukraine. Were it not for US actions to quash previous negotiations, to supply weapons, ammunition and intelligence, and to fund Ukraine’s government, this war would be over. If Trump thinks that this gives him leverage to pressure Putin to end the war, then it is just one more example of Trump’s detachment from reality.
Russia’s terms for a war-ending deal are firm — I’ve written about them repeatedly in previous posts. Trump apparently believes that the Russian government, not just Putin, is bluffing. If Witkoff takes this new deal back to Putin, he will get a frosty reception. Trump continues to indulge the fantasy that Russia is suffering unsustainable losses and is looking for a way out from a war, that per Trump’s belief, cannot be won. Putin and his advisors don’t see it that way. They know they will win the war and end Ukraine as a military threat. The ball will then be in NATO’s court — i.e., does NATO want a war with Russia?
It looks like Trump has decided to continue talks with Iran over securing guarantees that Iran will not build a nuclear weapon. According to the Middle East Spectator:
The U.S. has decided, after deliberation, that it will continue negotiations with Iran, as Trump prefers a ‘diplomatic solution’ to the nuclear issue.
I hope that is true. As long as the US and Iran are talking, they are not shooting at each other. However, Iran is not negotiating from a position of weakness. Tehran’s position is simple… it will agree to only process for peaceful purposes and will allow international inspectors to verify Iran’s compliance. If the US insists on Iran eliminating its missiles and ending support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, then that is a deal killer.
I discussed the latest developments regarding Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinians with Nima. We spent some time discussing the Houthis’ missile launch on Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Later in the day, I did the regularly scheduled Monday chat with Judge Napolitano. We focused on the removal of Mike Waltz as National Security advisor. If Trump’s goal during his first months in office was to create chaos, then he is doing a damn, fine job.
Larry, don’t you wonder why we allow dual citizens (Israeli Americans or Neocon idiots) to serve in our government-everyone except Thomas Massie has an “Israel first” minder to push the Congress person or Senator to be on Israel’s side? I saw a forum featuring Jeffrey Sachs in front of European leaders on Friday and he was dead on right. He openly said that Israel controls the American government. He also did say that DJT told Satanyahu “NO” when it came to being at war with Iran and said he was glad someone said “no” to that murdering piece of scum. But for how long? You know that cretinous monster will continue to try to push DJT into something re Iran. But with a cabinet full of neocons advising him, DJT has to really move those people aside and work on what is REAL. He also has to face the fact that even tho he says he’s in favor of ending Ukraine/Russia conflict, we’re still giving them weapons and Starlink. And that doesn’t have anything to do with Gaza vs Israel which also needs to end.
What puzzles me is that the most recent U.S. Geological Survey mineral commodity summary report (Jan 2025) does not even list Ukraine as a key player insofar as global rare-earth resources are concerned.
Are Ukraine's rare-earth resources real, or is this just another example of the people managing this clown show blowing smoke?
See pages 144-145 for the discussion of rare-earths:
https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025.pdf
If the data in the USGS document are accurate, then rare-earths are indeed exceedingly rare in Ukraine.