The article talks about the ongoing Ukraine-U.S. reconstruction fund that would invest into rebuilding Ukraine. The deal will likely be focused on Energy production, maritime infrastructure and mineral extraction. This fund is a part of a mineral deal with Ukraine in which the US gains access to the country’s precious metal deposits in exchange for continued aid. The article notes that Trump applied a large amount of pressure to the country through the reduction of aid to Ukraine.
This deal, which would largely cause an end to the war with Russia, gives the US a return on the billions of dollars in weapons and aid sent to Ukraine over the course of this 4 year war. While Russia doesn’t like this deal and has pushed for terms that favor Russian control over Ukraine, if Ukraine is directly covered by the US due to the mineral deposits there is nothing Russia could do about it without starting a large war. Ukraine’s dependence on aid allowed for the US to seek out a favorable deal that should allow the US to recuperate some of its losses.
The three major players are the Ukraine’s government, the US government and Russia’s government. The Ukrainian government essentially has no choice: either give America the mineral rights or lose extremely crucial aid that allows the country to defend from Russia. The US government has put itself in a very advantageous position by preventing other countries like China or Russia from accessing these materials and making sure that they could secure these mineral rights through powerful leverage. Russia’s government will likely be unable to receive favorable terms and will therefore not be able to take any Ukrainian land that was not already captured unless they want to cause a global conflict.
This article connects to our class through sovereignty and economic soft power. It connects to sovereignty through Ukraine’s need to choose whether the sovereignty they have to give up to the US is worth what they will receive in return. It connects to economic soft power because the US’s continued aid to Ukraine made the country reliant. This allowed for the US to make an extremely beneficial deal with Ukraine that will allow the US to extract minerals from the country.