Help us defend this, and we will make money together
In the third year of a war that has reshaped the architecture of European security, Ukraine's president has declined to exchange his nation's mineral wealth for economic partnership alone, insisting that survival cannot be mortgaged against uncertain promises. Zelenskyy's rejection of Washington's initial minerals proposal — half of Ukraine's rare earth deposits for American investment, without security guarantees — reflects a deeper truth about the nature of sovereignty: that economic arrangements mean nothing when the ground beneath them is still contested. As American diplomats meet Russian officials in Riyadh and European leaders convene separately in Paris, the world watches a negotiation unfolding in fragments, each room unaware of what the others are deciding.
- Zelenskyy drew a clear line: no security guarantees, no deal — Ukraine will not trade its natural wealth for promises that could dissolve the moment the guns fall silent.
- The minerals in question are not entirely Ukraine's to offer — billions of dollars' worth lie beneath Russian-occupied territory, a complication Washington has yet to answer.
- US-Russia ceasefire talks opened in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine at the table, while Macron's emergency Paris summit signaled Europe's alarm at being sidelined from decisions about its own future.
- On the eastern front, Russia's advance is visibly slowing — Ukrainian drones are destroying armored columns and forcing troops to walk ten kilometers through contested ground, many not surviving the journey.
- Drones struck Kyiv overnight and twice violated Moldovan airspace, a reminder that while diplomats debate seating arrangements, the war continues its methodical destruction.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Donald Trump's opening offer on Ukraine's critical minerals — a US Treasury proposal that would have granted America 50% ownership of rare earths, titanium, uranium, and lithium worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The problem, Zelenskyy said plainly on Meet the Press, was the absence of security guarantees. Without them, no economic arrangement could survive. Ukraine would not trade its natural wealth for promises that might evaporate once the fighting stopped.
There was a further complication the Americans had not addressed: Russia occupies significant portions of the territory where these deposits lie. Zelenskyy wanted to know whether Ukraine would be expected to cede those resources permanently, or whether the US would help recover them. The question went unanswered.
The diplomatic landscape was fracturing in real time. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Riyadh for the first high-level US-Russia talks in over two years, while Emmanuel Macron convened a separate European defense summit in Paris — a signal of the continent's anxiety about being excluded from negotiations that would determine its future. Rubio insisted Europe and Ukraine would eventually join the process, but the optics were unmistakable: Washington was talking to Moscow first, and alone.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, flew to the United Arab Emirates to discuss prisoner exchanges, with a Ukrainian delegation also present in Saudi Arabia. Whether he would attend the US-Russia talks remained unconfirmed.
On the eastern front, the military picture offered a rare moment of Ukrainian momentum. Forces recaptured the village of Pischane near Pokrovsk, and Russian bloggers acknowledged that the advance of recent months was losing steam — Ukrainian drones were methodically destroying armored vehicles and forcing troops to traverse kilometers of contested ground on foot, with devastating losses. That night, drones struck Kyiv and twice violated Moldovan airspace, underscoring that while diplomats argued over tables and terms, the war continued its grinding, indifferent work.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no to Donald Trump's opening offer, at least not yet. The Ukrainian president rejected a draft deal that would have handed the United States ownership of half of Ukraine's critical mineral deposits—rare earths, titanium, uranium, lithium, and others worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The proposal, brought to Kyiv the previous week by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, lacked the one thing Zelenskyy said made any economic arrangement worthless: security guarantees from America.
In an interview on Meet the Press, Zelenskyy laid out his logic with the clarity of someone who has learned to speak in terms Washington understands. Help Ukraine defend itself, he said, and the two countries could profit together from those minerals. But the deal had to include explicit security protections. Without them, he argued, no economic treaty would survive. "It must all be fair," he said. The subtext was unmistakable: Ukraine would not trade its natural wealth for promises that might evaporate the moment the fighting stopped.
There was another complication Zelenskyy raised that the Americans had not yet addressed. Russia controls significant portions of Ukrainian territory where these mineral deposits lie. Billions of dollars' worth of rare earth elements now sit in Russian-occupied zones. Zelenskyy wanted clarity on what would happen to those resources. Would Ukraine cede them permanently? Would the US help recover them? The question hung unanswered.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic machinery was spinning in multiple directions at once. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was preparing to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday for preliminary ceasefire talks—the first high-level US-Russia conversation in over two years. In response, Emmanuel Macron convened a separate summit in Paris of European defense powers, a move that signaled Europe's anxiety about being locked out of negotiations that would shape the continent's future. The Trump administration's approach had created a kind of diplomatic chaos, with different conversations happening in different rooms, each one potentially undermining the others.
Rubio tried to smooth the tensions on Sunday, telling CBS that Europe and Ukraine would eventually be part of any serious negotiations. "We're just not there yet," he said, acknowledging that the US-Russia talks were exploratory, a way to test whether Putin was genuinely interested in peace. He framed the American approach as pragmatic: talk to Russia first to understand their position, then bring in the other players. But the optics were clear to everyone watching—the US was negotiating without Ukraine at the table, at least initially.
Zelenskyy himself had traveled to the Middle East, arriving in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to discuss prisoner exchanges with Russia. A Ukrainian delegation showed up in Saudi Arabia, reportedly preparing for a possible visit by the president, though there was no confirmation he would attend the US-Russia talks. The Saudi visit, officials said, was about other matters—investment, economic partnerships, the kind of relationship-building a country at war needs to sustain itself.
On the ground in eastern Ukraine, the military picture was shifting. Ukrainian forces recaptured the village of Pischane, southwest of Pokrovsk, suggesting that Russia's rapid advance of the previous two months was losing momentum. Russian bloggers acknowledged the slowdown, blaming Ukrainian drones that dominated the skies and methodically destroyed armored vehicles. Russian troops were being forced to walk ten kilometers on foot through contested territory, and many were not arriving alive. It was a grim arithmetic of attrition.
The night brought fresh danger. Russian drones attacked Kyiv, and Ukrainian air defense units scrambled to intercept them. Timur Tkachenko, the military administration chief, posted a simple plea: "Please, stay safe." Two drones also violated Moldovan airspace near the Ukrainian border, the third such incident in days, adding another layer of tension to a region already stretched thin. The war continued its grinding work while diplomats in distant cities debated who would sit at which table and what Ukraine's mineral wealth was actually worth.
Citas Notables
Help us defend this, and we will make money on this together. If we are not given the security guarantees from the United States, I believe that the economic treaty will not work. It must all be fair.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president
Ukraine will have to be involved because they're the ones that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well. We're just not there yet.— Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Zelenskyy say no to half ownership of Ukraine's minerals? That sounds like a lot of money.
It is a lot of money. But Zelenskyy's point was that money doesn't matter if Ukraine isn't there to spend it. Without security guarantees, those minerals could be seized, the deal could collapse, or Ukraine could lose the war anyway. He's saying the economic part only works if the security part is real.
So he wants the US to promise to defend Ukraine before signing anything?
Exactly. He's linking the two things together. You can't separate them. If America won't commit to Ukraine's defense, why would Ukraine hand over its most valuable natural resources? It's leverage, but it's also just logic.
What about the minerals Russia already controls?
That's the harder question. Hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of rare earths are sitting in Russian-occupied territory right now. Zelenskyy is asking: what's the plan? Do we write those off? Do we try to take them back? The US proposal didn't address it, which is why he brought it up publicly.
Why are the US and Russia talking without Ukraine there?
That's what everyone's asking. Rubio says it's just preliminary—they're testing whether Putin is serious about peace. But it looks like the US is negotiating the terms of Ukraine's future without Ukraine in the room, which is exactly what Ukraine fears.
And Macron's summit in Paris?
Europe's way of saying we're not being left out of this. If the US and Russia are going to decide what happens to Ukraine, Europe wants a seat at that table too. It's a show of solidarity, but also a warning that Europe won't accept whatever deal the Americans and Russians cook up.
Is the fighting actually slowing down?
On the eastern front, yes. Russia made huge gains in December and January, but this month the advance has stalled. Ukrainian drones are taking a toll. But that doesn't mean the war is winding down—it just means both sides are grinding against each other at a different pace.