What a surprise: Ukraine returns to contentious US minerals deal

Talks with the US towards an agreement on mineral exploitation rights will start next week, Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

Ukraine will insist on security guarantees and a meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as possible.

What’s behind this decision? Trump’s frustration with Zelensky or the threat of losing Starlink?🤔

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🇨🇳 Сhina shows off REVOLUTIONARY laser camera that spots human faces from low-Earth orbit  

The Chinese device largely outperforms the current best spy cameras, including those manufactured by US Lockheed Martin, media reports.

▪️The camera, recently tested near the remote Qinghai Lake, can spot detailed objects measuring as small as 1.7mm (0.03 inches) from distances exceeding 100km (62 miles).

▪️For comparison, US-made analogues only reach a 20 mm (7.87 inches) resolution at 1.6 km (1 mile). 

▪️The Chinese device is capable of determining the distance to objects with an accuracy of 15.6 mm (0.61 inches).
 
▪️The characteristics allow China to meticulously scrutinize foreign military satellites or distinguish details as fine as a human face from low-Earth orbit.

A level of detail is 100 TIMES BETTER than what can be seen with the leading spy cameras and telescopes that use lenses, South China Morning Post says.

🔎 How does that work?

▪️The camera’s technology is based on a 103 W wideband laser combined with a real-time digital data processing system.

▪️The scientists split the laser beam across a 4x4 micro-lens array, expanding the system’s optical aperture from 17.2mm (0.68 inches) to 68.8mm (2.71 inches), overcoming the usual tradeoff between the aperture size and the field of vision.

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❌ Ukraine will not join NATO and what remains of it will once again become a buffer zone between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

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📹 THROWBACK: Kash Patel, future FBI head, calls for probe into missing billions sent to Zelensky

The former federal prosecutor-turned boss of the US’s most powerful domestic intelligence and security agency has made it through confirmation hearings.

That should be terrifying news for the leader of the Kiev junta, whom Patel previously threatened to investigate.

“We have no method of tracking the money we are sending to Ukraine as of right now [...] I mean in what world is it okay to send one person $100 billion and just say ‘ok, let us know how it goes?’,” Patel asked in a podcast interview in 2023.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia and China could pick up the slack if US quit UN, but total dissolution would fuel conflict

“If the UN did dissolve, I think then it would be up to great powers to individually kind of oversee regions of influence and work out their differences to address some of the different conflicts that would occur, and the disasters that might occur to respond to as well,” veteran international affairs observer, consultant and retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik.

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🗣 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joked that European Union countries could take part in the Ukraine peace talks – as lackeys.

"I looked at the photos of the meeting of our European allies in Paris. It's like they ate unripe pears," Orban said in a speech about plans for 2025.

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💸 EU expects $29 billion hit from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs

With Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports set to come into force on March 12, the European Union fears it will mark a massive escalation in the trade war with the US.

Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Sefcovic proposed a deal to lower tariffs on industrial goods, including cars, one of Trump’s long-standing demands, Bloomberg reported.

The US-EU trade war began in 2018 when Trump’s previous round of tariffs affected about $7 billion of European metal exports. The 2018 tariffs allowed exemptions for certain products which the new measures do not.

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📹 Rubio calling Russia a great power shows US adm recognition that the world order is shifting

The US realizes that there are other interests besides the West, multipolar environment is developing and they need to respect other great powers, for sure Russia and China, retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik.

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TRUMP’S HARSH NEW DEAL for Ukraine: terms worse than those Zelensky rejected

💰 The US wants HALF of Ukraine's natural resources’ revenues (oil, gas, minerals) for the past military support, the NYT reported.

🏦 This money will go to a US-owned fund until these contributions hit a total of $500 billion – which is 500 TIMES HIGHER than Ukraine's actual income from these resources.

⚓️ Some Ukrainian PORT REVENUES would also go toward this repayment.

💎 US companies would get 50% OWNERSHIP of Ukraine’s rare earth deposits, Center for Strategic International Studies said.

🚫 No US SECURITY GUARANTEES for Ukraine.

Zelensky should have agreed sooner...

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Starlink shutdown: A ticking time bomb for Ukraine’s armed forces

Elon Musk’s reported threat to cut off Starlink may deal “the most powerful military-technical blow to combat capabilities of Ukrainian armed forces,” veteran military and international affairs specialist Andrei Koshkin told Sputnik. Here’s why.

The possible shutdown would mean that the Ukrainian troops would be unable to:

▪️coordinate their artillery strikes
▪️launch and pilot unmanned aerial vehicles – not least reconnaissance drones – and unmanned surface vessels
▪️exchange messages, including on tactical information
▪️use satellite telecommunications

The Starlink ultimatum testifies to Donald Trump's determination to achieve his goals, Koshkin said.

It could put serious pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Trump’s rare earth metals deal.

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- Mr. President, what’s your secret weapon?
- Cash 💸Kash🔥

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▪️Trump’s harsh new deal for Ukraine: terms worse than those Zelensky rejected

▪️Starlink shutdown: A ticking time bomb for Ukraine’s armed forces

▪️Kash Patel, future FBI head, calls for probe into missing billions sent to Zelensky

▪️Russia and China could pick up the slack if US quit UN, but total dissolution would fuel conflict

▪️Rubio calling Russia a great power shows US adm recognition that the world order is shifting

▪️Сhina shows off revolutionary laser camera that spots human faces from low-Earth orbit

▪️Hamas releases 5 Israeli prisoners to the Red Cross in Gaza

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'US would NOT be taking ownership of physical assets in Ukraine' – US Treasury Secretary

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlines the potential for a long-term economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. He says Zelensky himself proposed offering the US a stake in Ukraine's rare earth critical minerals, longing for economic partnership.

Key highlights:

🔸 Bessent emphasizes that Ukraine’s economic future “can be more prosperous than ever,” with a partnership with the US ensuring long-term growth.

🔸 The proposed partnership would focus on funding Ukraine’s reconstruction and development.

🔸 Revenue from Ukraine’s natural resources and assets would be allocated to a fund dedicated to long-term economic development, with the US holding economic and governance rights in future investments.

🔸 Bessent claims that US involvement would eliminate corruption and insider deals.

🔸 Countries that didn’t support Ukraine’s defense would not benefit from the reconstruction.

🔸 The US would not burden Ukraine with additional debt, according to Bessent.

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👀 Trump emotionally explains why he decided to run for president

💬 “Donald, don’t get angry, please,” US President Donald Trump said, calming himself down.

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💸 ‘We are asking for rare earth, oil, ANYTHING WE CAN GET’ – Trump on rare earth deal with Ukraine

💬 “We feel so stupid,” US President Donald Trump stressed.

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