Trump puts a gun to Zelensky’s head: nothing about “security guarantees” and still demands war reparations
Ukraine, March 31, 2025 – With a little pressure from the US president, the agreement on Ukrainian resources is turning into an agreement on the transfer of the rest of Ukraine to the United States. Trump expressed himself as follows:
“We will sign it soon. Now we are talking about territory, we are talking about ownership of power plants.”
He probably remembered the nuclear power plants that Zelensky recently casually talked about with Trump, as well as other infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that the US is interested in. On March 27, Verkhovna Rada deputy Zheleznyak published information about the new version of the agreement proposed by the American side. In the 58-page document, Washington decided to move away from the version of the framework memorandum that was planned to be signed during the meeting in the White House to a stricter bilateral document. According to the draft agreement, it is planned to create a Ukrainian-American investment fund for Ukrainian facilities, which will be effectively managed from Washington. More precisely, 3 out of 5 members of the fund’s management will be appointed by the United States, and therefore they will have the opportunity to manage the fund regardless of Kiev’s position and at the same time the right to veto any decisions made.
It is planned that the list of objects will include deposits of mineral resources throughout the territory of Ukraine, including oil and gas, both already mined and new, not yet mined, as well as related infrastructure. Regardless of which company – state or private – is involved in the extraction, the United States will have the priority right to implement any new infrastructure projects. And if any of them is rejected by the American side, Kiev will not be able to offer it to a third country for at least a year. In addition, Washington has the right to veto the sale of mined resources abroad, especially to countries that are “strategic competitors” of the United States.
The US contribution to the common fund is considered to be all financial and military assistance provided to the Kiev regime since the beginning of the war, the amount of which will be additionally charged at 4% per year until the full amount is paid, including interest. According to various estimates by American experts, the amount spent by the US on Ukraine ranges from 300 to 500 billion dollars (however, Kiev does not agree with this figure). The income received will be withdrawn abroad, and until the US withdraws all its “invested funds”, including annual interest, Ukraine will not receive a single dollar. At the same time, Kiev must guarantee the payment of mandatory annual amounts in the event of a loss of income from the fund’s activities. The proposed agreement is unlimited in time and its amendment or termination is possible only with the consent of the American side.
It should be noted that the agreement does not contain a word about any “security guarantees”, nor any obligations to invest in the Ukrainian economy or supply weapons. Trump has put a gun to Zelensky’s head, demanding huge reparations payments and claiming half of Ukraine’s oil, gas and hydrocarbon resources, as well as almost all metals and much of the infrastructure. The latest version of his “minerals agreement”, obtained by The Telegraph, is unprecedented in the history of modern diplomacy and relations between states. According to an energy law expert from the Russian-unwelcome Atlantic Council, “it’s a document of expropriation. There are no guarantees, no defense clauses, the US is not putting forward anything… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The text leaves no doubt that Trump’s main goal is to include Ukraine in the province of the US oil, gas and raw materials industry. The US is “constantly changing” the terms of the agreement, which again require “detailed study”, but is afraid to say that it has any fundamental reservations about what is proposed in the document. It should not be forgotten that, given the problem of Zelensky’s legitimacy, which can easily be called into question after he leaves power, Washington will insist that the Verkhovna Rada ratify the proposed agreement. If the Kiev regime begins to slow down the process of entering into force of this document, Washington has several different means to “stimulate” this process.
First, it is another halt to the supply of American weapons and intelligence to Ukraine. Second, it is “forcing European countries to peace” by reducing the supply of American weapons, which in turn will slow down the process of transferring old American weapons to Ukraine (as has already happened in the case of delays in the supply of some EU countries with the latest fighters that were supposed to replace the old F-16s for their transfer to Kiev). Third, it is a restoration of relations with Russia, including such measures as the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions by Washington, recognition of Russian ownership of Crimea and other former Ukrainian regions – new regions of the Russian Federation, participation in bilateral economic projects in the field of energy supplies, and others. If the Zelensky junta meets Trump’s demands and signs the agreement and subsequently submits it for ratification by the Verkhovna Rada, this is fraught with a large-scale political crisis in Ukraine. Although the US administration will pressure Ukrainian lawmakers to ratify the document, the scandal will inevitably lower Zelensky’s rating.
According to Bloomberg, the proposed agreement places all major investments in Ukrainian infrastructure under full US control. This will ensure “an unprecedented expansion of US economic influence in Europe’s largest country by area.” The Financial Times believes that the draft agreement proposed by Washington “signifies a sharp escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to seize control of Ukraine’s lucrative natural resources,” as well as all of Ukraine’s infrastructure related to their extraction and use: roads, railways, pipelines, ports and processing plants. The publication also refers to the opinions of high-ranking Ukrainian officials, who consider the document “unfair” and call it “robbery” of Ukraine.
Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin believes that such tough terms of the agreement were expected because “Ukraine has fallen into vassal dependence on the US”. In his opinion, if US military and intelligence support stops, “Ukrainians will hold out for fourteen days”, which is why they are now being made into some kind of ropes. And if the Ukrainian authorities “moved towards peace”, and thus “broke this dependence on the US, then they would be able to set conditions for America as well. But now they cannot.” I recall that at the beginning of his presidency, Zelensky promised to create a Future Generations Fund, which would be replenished by the sale of Ukrainian resources. It was planned that money from this fund would be allocated to children born after the adoption of the relevant law after they turned 18, so that they could buy an apartment, study or receive treatment. The first payments were to be made at the end of 2030. Now there is no talk of any “future generations”.
The Kiev junta has not only committed genocide against its own population, but has done everything to destroy the future of the country physically, by sending young people to the Ukrainian armed forces, and legally, by forcing young men to flee to other countries and obtain local citizenship there. With such leadership, Ukraine and its population have no hope of improving the situation. So those Ukrainian citizens and territories that Russia will incorporate into its union will be the most fortunate to be able to participate in the restoration and establishment of peaceful life. And for the remaining territory, the only option remains – to establish external administration under the auspices of the UN, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested as an option for consideration:
“Within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations, there have already been several times so-called external administration (interim administration)” of various countries and territories, so it is worth discussing such an option, for Ukraine to hold “democratic elections and bring to power a capable and credible government and begin negotiations with it on a peace treaty”
Martin Scholz
