One of the more amusing facts about the Ukraine war is that it has nothing to do with independence or democracy or stopping a renewed Soviet-era-like advance by Putin. It is about a US/Allied interest in natural resources. Energy, minerals. That’s right, left-wing rage-heads, it looks like you are supporting blood for oil, more or less.
- Ukraine is one of the 10 leading countries in the world in terms of proven reserves of titanium and accounts for 7% of global production1.
- As of today lithium is not mined in Ukraine. Its reserves account for near a one third of those proven in Europe and ~3% of world’s1.
- Ukraine is one of the world’s five leading countries in terms of graphite reserves, which are about 19 million tons of ore with a natural graphite content of 5-8%1.
- There are 12 silicate nickel fields in Ukraine, which contain cobalt as a coproduct. The cobalt reserves are up to 9 thousand tons1.
- Rare and rare earth metals such as tantalum, niobium, and beryllium are known to exist in six fields. Tantalum and niobium extraction in non-commercial volumes is carried out only as a coproduct of titanium1.
- Ukrainian industry carries out a metallurgical processing of lead-containing materials and obtains on their basis lead, zinc and their alloys1.
- Ukraine has the second-biggest known gas reserves in Europe, apart from Russia’s gas reserves in Asia, although largely unexploited2.
Ukraine is also a major exporter of iron ore2, along with its traditional status as having some of the richest farmland in the world. If you think for one minute the US/UK and NATO are fighting to defend Ukraine for anything other than access to resources, you’re kidding yourself. Access to deny it to Putin and Russia if it will cripple that economy and, by extension, its national defense posture.
The CIA’s 2014 Ukraine coup was about resources. Russia probably wanted favorable status in Eastern Ukraine to develop them. The US then decided to play the NATO card after Putin said that would be the last straw, and years later, hundreds of thousands are dead because US interests want to delete those resources.
Sure, there are some finer details but that covers it form 30,000 feet, and maybe a bit closer to earth.
We are sending billions not to defend democracy; there’s none of that in Ukraine now, by the way. This is geopolitical gamesmanship and war to secure better gas and mineral rights. Blood for oil, lefties. Blood for oil
See also Syria. The US and Israel are happy to see Assad gone and the resources made available – also at Russia’s expense. No one is there to spread democracy.
Peace in Ukraine, by the way, can result from calmer heads admitting the truth and deciding who gets access to what resources before the nukes fly. And you’d be right to ask why we’d let it get that far or even risk it. But what Ukrainians get besides peace is probably an afterthought.
1.https://www.geo.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/presentations/en/critical-minerals-portfolio.pdf
2. Are Ukraine’s vast natural resources a real reason behind Russia’s invasion?
