Miscellaneous News

pmc

Colonel
Registered Member
I'm not so sure. I think the US calculates that Europe has painted itself into a corner with its irrational Sinophobia and thus the US can afford to offend its vassals as they have no real alternative. Moreover, despite all the talk about a EU federation, Europe is still mostly just smaller countries in a loose co-operative structure. Collective action problems are the norm, not the exception.

The only real option for Europe would be to approach Putin and Xi to create leverage against the US, but that would require genuinely sovereign governments. Since Europe does not have those, the US has great latitude to do what it wants.

Also, remember that the recent warming up to Russia is aimed at splitting off China and Russia from each other. The US state dept has already removed any references towards opposing Taiwanese independence. Trump may be gearing up for a conflict in Asia by winding it down in Europe.
Europe does not have that option. when Trump was praising MBS infront of Macron he was rubbing on his face the person who evicted France from Africa and too much praise is that threat with in. The vision is that Empire. and what ever you called Special military operation is also internal purges in Russian society to make it more closer to that culture thats why leader of Russian muslims showed up with a Sword on Feb 24.

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Trump admires bin Salman: His vision is insightful and he is respected by the world​

"Our visit to Saudi Arabia was amazing, and we met with the Crown Prince, who was fantastic," Trump added. "He's young, but he has vision, and he's highly respected around the world. The King is fantastic, and they're both doing their best to end the war in Ukraine."

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Supreme Mufti presented Putin with the shield and sword of the defender of the Fatherland
The Russian President drew attention to the shield and sword lying on the table. Tajuddin explained that they were ordered on February 24, 2022, the day the military operation in Ukraine began. According to him, the shield of the defender of the Fatherland "testifies to the core of Russia,
 

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
The US charging Chinese made ships that dock at US ports is the latest example of the fall of the West. The US and Europe have to profit from other countries’s success as they wane in the world at large. Look at how the EU was demanding China hand over its EV technology to them for free and get nothing in return for it. Both the US and Europe expect to be handed over money for nothing just because they’re white. And then you see that attitude with wannabe whites in Japan where they just don’t understand why don’t the Chinese just buy their radioactive fish and South Korea where they want their K-pop to have unfettered access to the Chinese market. They somehow expect with their anti-Chinese attitudes that Chinese are supposed to give them money for nothing.

I assume why this latest tactic of threatening shipping is Trump ain’t getting anywhere in this grand trade deal with China he’s aiming for that’s been circulating in the media. It’s like the Phase One deal. China didn’t see any tariffs being repealed so they didn’t buy American agricultural. Simple as that. Trump is probably demanding one-sided deals again and not getting any good responses from the Chinese so that’s why he threw this shipping charge out there. It’s like how he threatened to tariff 25% on Canada and Mexico and they called Trump which he interpreted as begging to him so he then delayed the tariff. But now he’s saying the planned tariffs will be imposed soon because Trump is probably not seeing any movement on what he wants.

You know how many US port workers will be out of a job. How about all the American businesses dependent on their products being shipped to them. Remember the port delays a while ago? That’s when inflation started bubbling because of access and transportation fees being exploited on the American end. All because they think this will all be China’s problem.
 

FriedButter

Brigadier
Registered Member
Time to bend the knee Elensky

The knee has been bent.

Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US​

Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment.

Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.

Although the text lacks explicit security guarantees, the officials argued that they had negotiated far more favourable terms and depicted the deal as a way of broadening the relationship with the US to shore up Ukraine’s prospects after three years of war.

“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.

The original draft’s highly onerous terms — which President Donald Trump presented as a means of Ukraine repaying the US for military and financial aid since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion — provoked outrage in Kyiv and other European capitals.

After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected that initial text last week, Trump called him a “dictator” and appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war.

The final version of the agreement, dated February 24 and seen by the FT, would establish a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of state-owned mineral resources, including oil and gas, and associated logistics. The fund would invest in projects in Ukraine.

It excludes mineral resources that already contribute to Ukrainian government coffers, meaning it would not cover the existing activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest gas and oil producers.

However, the agreement omits any reference to US security guarantees which Kyiv had originally insisted on in return for agreeing to the deal. It also leaves crucial questions such as the size of the US stake in the fund and the terms of “joint ownership” deals to be hashed out in follow-up agreements.

After three years in which the US was Kyiv’s primary military aid donor, Trump has overturned Washington’s policy by opening bilateral talks with Russia, without any European allies or Ukraine at the table.

Ukrainian officials said the deal had been approved by the justice, economy and foreign ministers, and held out the prospect of Zelenskyy travelling to the White House in the coming weeks for a signing ceremony with Trump.

“This will be a chance for the president to discuss what the bigger picture is. And then after it, we will be able to think of the next steps,” said one official.

The Trump administration’s initial sweeping proposal called for a reconstruction investment fund in which the US “maintains 100 per cent financial interest”. Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of the fund’s revenues from mineral resource extraction, including oil and gas and associated infrastructure, up to a maximum of $500bn.

Those terms, described as unacceptable by Ukrainian officials, have been removed from the final draft.

The mandate for the fund to invest in Ukraine is a further change Kyiv had sought. The document states the US will back Ukraine’s economic development into the future.

Ukrainian officials added that the deal was just a “framework agreement” and that no revenues would change hands until the fund was in place, allowing them time to iron out any potential disagreements. Among the outstanding issues is to agree the jurisdiction of the agreement.

Zelenskyy’s government will also have to seek approval from Ukraine’s parliament, where opposition MPs have signalled they will at the very least have a heated debate before ratifying such a deal.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday that it was “critical that this deal is signed”, though she did not provide an update on the talks.
The final version of the agreement, dated February 24 and seen by the FT, would establish a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of state-owned mineral resources, including oil and gas, and associated logistics. The fund would invest in projects in Ukraine.
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