The new version of the minerals agreement looks as if Ukraine lost the war to the United States of America.
This is reported by The Washington Post, citing Ukrainian officials.
" The new draft agreement looks as if Ukraine was at war with the US, lost, was occupied and is now forced to pay "lifelong reparations ," a senior Ukrainian official told the publication on condition of anonymity.
The document, like the previous version, does not contain any security guarantees and is formulated as a mechanism for compensating for funds provided by the U.S. In its current form, the agreement has no chance of being signed.
The new version of the document treats all US support given to Ukraine during the war as debt, repayable with interest from the revenues from the mineral deal. It also gives the US "right of first refusal" on all energy and mineral-related investments, effectively giving the US complete control.
A former Ukrainian official familiar with the details of the negotiations said the new proposal may only be the US's initial negotiating position, but it is "terrible for Ukraine."
The proposed board of the fund, which would oversee all investments, would consist of three U.S. representatives and two Ukrainians, giving the United States a permanent majority and effective control over decision-making. The two Ukrainian board members would be subject to Washington vetting and could be removed at any time.
" Either they are very brazen, or they are trying to start from a too aggressive position to be able to make small concessions ," the former Ukrainian official said.
As Apostrophe reported, the new version of the minerals agreement indicates that the United States is acting against Ukraine using Chinese raider methods .