THE FAR PEACE! Kremlin contradicts Trump on ‘NATO troops in Ukraine’. Kiev Agrees to US Mineral Deal
by Carlo Domenico Cristofori
Kiev agrees to Trump’s minerals deal – FT
Kiev has agreed to a softened version of US President Donald Trump’s earlier demand for US access to hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Ukrainian mineral resources, Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky may visit the White House in the coming weeks for a signing ceremony with Trump, the report said. Kiev officials told the publication that the nation’s justice, economy, and foreign ministers approved the deal.
The decisive factor was the green light given by the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who stopped the truce deal on March, 2022 and is now a top official at the Washington think-tank CEPA, the organisation that brings together the military leaders of NATO and the EU but is financed by the Weapons Lobby, the same one that had no problem giving the green light to supply weapons to the neo-Nazi battalions of the Ukrainian National Guard.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, known for his loud rhetoric, unexpectedly changed his tune regarding the US deal with Ukraine regarding its mineral resources.
Speaking at the annual Yalta conference on European strategy, he called on Kiev to sign the latest version of the deal with the United States, despite calling it a “robbery”.
No meetings in Riyadh with participation of Russian Foreign Ministry
This alleged agreement comes a few hours after the proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putinc who, in a press conference, had launched the possibility of a collaboration with the USA in the exploitation of rare earths both in the territory of Russia and in the territory controlled by it in Donbass.
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In light of this promise obtained by Trump, which allows him to face the reduction in the export of rare earths decided by China in response to the trade duties imposed by the White House on imports of Chinese products, it will be necessary to understand whether the USA will give up providing the military support guaranteed to Kiev so far or will continue, thus rendering any negotiations for a truce in Ukraine futile.
The level of diplomatic meetings, in the meantime, has significantly declined.
Indeed the Russian Foreign Ministry has informed TASS that no meetings involving representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry are taking place in Riyadh today.
“No meetings with the participation of the Foreign Ministry are taking place in Riyadh today,” the ministry stated.
Kremlin contradicts Trump on ‘NATO troops in Ukraine’
The Kremlin has contradicted a claim by US President Donald Trump that Russia would “accept” the placement of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine under a possible peace deal.
When pressed by journalists on Monday about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opinion on the possibility of Western troops deploying to Ukraine, Trump said “He will accept that. I have asked him that question.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday however that Moscow’s position has not changed since Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s description the week before of the “presence of armed forces from NATO countries, even under the EU flag or as part of national contingents” as “completely unacceptable” to Moscow.
Trump insisted he had “specifically asked [Putin] that question” regarding the deployment. “He has no problem with it,” he said while talking to the press following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington.
Trump and Putin spoke by phone for more than an hour earlier in February. According to both sides, the conversation involved a wide range of topics, including the ongoing Ukraine conflict. However, neither side mentioned any understandings reached at that time that could be linked to the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine.
Russia would only accept a foreign troop deployment to Ukraine as part of a UN mandate, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s envoy to the international body, told RIA Novosti earlier this month. “‘Peacekeepers’ cannot operate without a mandate from the UN Security Council,”he said at that time, adding that any other military contingents on the ground would be treated as regular combatants.
Moscow has warned that it would treat any troops entering Ukraine without Russia’s consent amid its ongoing conflict with Kiev as legitimate targets.
Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, meaning it can veto any resolution to send foreign troops to Ukraine.
Several senior European leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have been floating the idea of sending military personnel to Ukraine.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the two nations were considering deploying up to 30,000 “peacekeepers” to the nation, depending on whether Moscow and Kiev could reach a peace deal. The plan was also dependent on whether the US would agree to contribute to the effort in a limited military capacity, the report said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that European NATO members should bear the brunt of security guarantees for Kiev.
Earlier in February, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out deploying American troops to Ukraine as part of any agreements on security guarantees.
Starmer confirms UK to host Ukraine summit this weekend
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that the UK will host a meeting of European leaders to discuss the conflict in Ukraine over the coming weekend.
“I am hosting a number of countries at the weekend for us to continue to discuss how we go forward together as allies in light of the situation that we face,” he told reporters.
Bloomberg earlier reported that European leaders could hold a meeting on Ukraine on March 2. The event will take place after Starmer’s visit to Washington, where he is scheduled to hold talks with US President Donald Trump on February 27.
On Monday, the American leader received French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House. Starmer said he had a phone conversation with Macron on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the outcome of the French president’s trip to Washington.
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