War

A thousand ninety -sixth day. Trump expects to put an end to the war “this week” and at the same time tightens the terms of the transaction on minerals with Ukraine

Medusa from February 24, 2022 lives on the Russian-Ukrainian war on the air. In our daily materials, we publish your letters, because we are sure: we must continue to talk about the war. Russia and the United States held negotiations - without the participation of Ukraine and Europe. What do you feel about it? Is it correct from Washington to discuss the end of the war in the absence of representatives of Kyiv? Or any dialogue that can potentially contribute to the ceasefire - is it already good in itself? Look for a feedback form at the end of this article. The review of the previous day can be read here .

World

US President Donald Trump hopes that the agreement on the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian war will be reached in the near future, Karoline Livitt said on Saturday, on February 22, the press secretary of the White House.

“The president and his team are very focused on continuing the negotiations with both parties to the war to put an end to the conflict, and the president is firmly convinced that we can achieve this this week,” Livitt said , not giving any details about how Trump gathering this do.

According to the press secretary, Trump “believes that Russia is ready to conclude an agreement, and he is fighting for the conclusion of an agreement.” She added that Trump's adviser Mike Waltz “will work around the clock all weekends in order to achieve an agreement and put an end to the conflict in Ukraine”.

“The president said that he wanted the murders to stop to cease to die innocent people, and that he wants peace,” the representative of the White House added.

At the same time, Ukraine and the United States continue negotiations under an agreement on minerals. Donald Trump said on February 22 that the United States expect access to critically important minerals and oil of Ukraine, as well as to everything that can get. "

According to The New York Times and NV, the US authorities on February 21 transferred to Ukraine an even more stringent version of the agreement on natural resources, which was previously rejected by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. The new option provides that the United States will receive 100% of the ownership of the future fund, in which the rights to develop the subsoil can be introduced. Also, according to media reports, the American authorities prescribed an agreement that the amount of the fund will be $ 500 billion - it is precisely such a compensation for American expenses for military and financial assistance to Ukraine who wants to get Trump.

The Ukrainian authorities opposed the US requirement to create a joint fund for $ 500 billion, Bloomberg told the Ukrainian official familiar with the course of negotiations. According to him, in the new version of the agreement there is nothing about guarantees of future military and financial assistance from the United States.

The interlocutor Bloomberg said that Ukraine in response called the amount five times less - about 90 billion dollars. The source of the Ukrainian Radio NV reported a similar amount: “We have now reduced this offer [US] to $ 100 billion and transferred to the [special messenger of President Trump Kita] Kellogo.”

Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak told Ukrainian journalists on February 23 that an employment agreement would be signed in the near future. “The contract is discussed, discussed quite thoroughly at different levels, working teams have been created. When it is signed, this is a matter of the near future, of course, ”said Podolyak.

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrei Ermak stated on February 23 that Kyiv continues the dialogue with Washington about minerals. “Of course, we continue this dialogue with our partners so that there are no other [conversations] - no one refuses anything. We have a normal workflow, ”said Yermak on the forum“ Ukraine. Year 2025 "in Kyiv.

The US President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kir Starmer are preparing to go to negotiations in the United States. They are going to on February 24 and 27, respectively, to submit to Donald Trump to place up to 30 thousand European peacekeepers in Ukraine if Moscow and Kiev reached an agreement on ceasefire, reports The Wall Street Journal, referring to their own sources.

According to the publication, Macron and, perhaps, Starmer will try to convince the United States to send part of the American troops for a “response impact” in case European troops in Ukraine are threatened with danger from Russia.

According to officials, the plan of European countries developed will not require the United States to deploy their own forces in Ukraine, which Trump is opposed to. Sources say that the United States could use air defense systems in neighboring countries and provide Europe with additional air defense systems. According to officials, without the support of Trump, Europe will have difficulties with sending peacekeepers.

European countries are also discussing opportunities that allow the seizure of frozen assets of Russia, Bloomberg said . According to sources familiar with the negotiations, European officials study whether it is possible to use the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation as a collateral for the work of the planned International Commission on Claims, which will determine the amount of compensation due to Ukraine. Assets can be confiscated if Moscow refuses to pay damage, the agency writes.

According to the interlocutors, the option is also considered that the EU countries are confiscated by the sovereign assets of Russia as compensation for the destroyed energy infrastructure of Ukraine. Some EU countries, including Germany and France, opposed the proposal to completely confiscate assets due to possible legal and economic consequences.

According to Bloomberg, the proposals considered in the European Union complicates that the G7 countries have already used profit from the frozen assets of Russia as a security measure for a loan of $ 50 billion issued to Ukraine.

The European Commission informed the EU ambassadors that negotiations on the creation of the International Commission on Claims will begin on March 24, sources said. They added that this issue will be discussed at a meeting of foreign ministers of the EU countries on February 24.

The European Union, the Big Seven countries and Australia after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war froze about $ 280 billion assets of the Central Bank of Russia in the form of securities and cash, mainly through the Belgian Depository of EuroClear. In addition, in the framework of sanctions imposed on Russian businessmen, assets of about $ 58 billion are frozen - the US Treasury is given by this assessment. It includes the cost of houses, yachts, private aircraft and other property of Russians.

War through the eyes of readers "Medusa"

Ksenia (Russia). Complete surrealism. In general, I expected from Trump stupid and ill -conceived actions, backstage intrigues, but certainly not shifting responsibility for the war to Ukraine, and not these predatory proposals for valuable resources. It does not seem to me that with such approaches you can at least agree on something.

Trump has pressure levers: strength, unpredictability and, excuse me, inadequacy. I really hoped that he would use them against the aggressor, not sacrifice.

I can’t imagine how events will develop further, and I do not support the world on unfair conditions. If the Russian leadership is not responsible and avoids the consequences, this will be fraught with a much larger number of victims in the future. Moreover, this will untie the hands and other potential aggressors. It is terrible to imagine how many wars can begin in the near future, if Putin’s guilt and his entire regime are now lowering on the brakes.

Share your opinion on negotiations in the USA and Russia

"Jellyfish"