Kyiv remains sceptical of plan as Treasury secretary Scott Bessent denies it is ‘coercive’ in FT opinion article

Economics

The US and Ukraine have made significant progress towards a mineral deal, a source told the Associated Press

Economics

Billionaire’s Starlink system has proved a crucial internet communications service for the war-torn country

Events

Ukraine’s lithium deposits are among biggest in Europe and the US is looking for ‘payback’ for previous military assistanceDrawing in the snow with his finger, Mykola Hrechukha sketched out how Ukraine’s new lithium mine might look. It would have a deep central shaft, with a series of side tunnels, he said. “The lithium is good everywhere. The biggest concentration is at a depth of 200-500 metres,” he said. “We should be able to extract 4,300 tonnes a day. The potential is terrific.”For now, though, there is little sign of activity. The deposit is buried under a large sloping field, used in communist times to grow beetroot and wheat. The mine’s proposed entrance is in an abandoned former-Soviet village, Liodiane, today a scruffy grove of acacia and maple trees. The only inhabitant is a security guard, who lives on the 150-hectare site in an ancient Gaz-53 truck. Wild boar and even a wolf sometimes wander past. Continue reading...

Politics

US president earlier drew criticism after saying Kyiv ‘should have never started’ war; Trump predicts Ukraine will soon sign minerals deal with US. What we know on day 1,095See all our Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

Events

A stop-work order had been issued to government-funded attorneys to cease counsel for about 26,000 minorsThe Trump administration has rescinded its decision to cut off legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children, just three days after it ordered government-funded attorneys across the country to immediately stop their work.The Acacia Center for Justice and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) confirmed that the stop-work order affecting non-profits that provide legal counsel for about 26,000 unaccompanied minors had been lifted. Continue reading...

Events

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously rejected an agreement for American control of much of his country’s rare earth minerals

Politics

President Donald Trump has been cutting probationary employees as part of his effort to downsize the federal workforce

Politics

National security adviser Mike Waltz tells CPAC agreement is expected imminently as part of ceasefire negotiationsThe White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Friday that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was expected to sign a minerals agreement with the United States imminently, as part of broader negotiations to end the war with Russia.“Here’s the bottom line: President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” Waltz said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Continue reading...

Politics

National security adviser Mike Waltz tells conference that ‘economic partnership’ will be ‘good’ for Kyiv

Economics

‘Department of government efficiency’ head Elon Musk suggested $5,000 checks to US households if targets metDonald Trump has appeared to embrace a proposal to share a portion of the cuts in US government spending made by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) with all US households in the form of checks, intensifying concerns about inflation potentially rising again.Trump addressed the idea in a speech at an investment conference in Miami on Wednesday, telling attendees: “There’s even under consideration a new concept, where we give 20% of the Doge savings to American citizens, and 20% goes to paying down debt.” Continue reading...

Politics

Keith Kellog cancels joint appearance with Zelenskyy, while Trump aide said Ukraine should ‘tone it down and sign that deal’ on minerals with USFormer US state secretary John Kerry said “the basic playing field for making peace in Ukraine is there,” as he rejected Donald Trump’s suggestions that Ukraine was responsible for starting the war with Russia and dismissed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s logic for invasion as “lies.”Speaking at a London conference organised by the consultancy Brand Finance, Kerry, who served as the US state secretary in Barack Obama’s Democratic administration, said this:Putin individually decided, contrary to what Donald Trump said yesterday or day before, to invade Ukraine. He wants it back. He said different motives expressed at different times, that it was Nazis taking over the country, and he had to go in to root out the Nazis. Well, come on, folks. I mean, that lie has been proved. There’s so many lies.And why do I say that? Because I think all of ...

Politics

The president has replaced the ‘good guys’ myth with unapologetic brute force and greed – it could be a major mistakeDonald Trump’s attempt to seize Ukraine’s natural resources is another morbid symptom of the decline of US power. This may seem counterintuitive. Demanding half of all the revenues – not simply profit – flowing from Ukraine’s minerals, oil, gas and infrastructure, worth a staggering £400bn, sounds like the behaviour of a bully defined by swagger and brawn. It has rightly been described as reducing Ukraine to the status of an economic colony of the US.But it epitomises the total discarding of one of the three central pillars of US hegemony. The first was military supremacy. This was shattered by the calamities of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, which associated the US military with atrocities, violent chaos and humiliating strategic defeat. The proxy war of Ukraine can now be added to that list. The second was economic supremacy, which remains, but which was severely weak...

Politics

All America’s allies know that Trump is trapped in a disinformation bubble, but Zelenskyy said it out loudTrump calls Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ who should ‘move fast’ or lose country as row with Ukraine leader worsens – Europe liveAll the effort Kyiv had expended in wooing the White House, combining flattery with bribery and a share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, imploded in minutes when Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke the fundamental rule of the new global reality: he told the truth about Donald Trump.All America’s allies, the great majority of Republican leaders who have bowed to him, and a good number of his own cabinet, know full well that Trump is trapped in a disinformation bubble, but Zelenskyy said it out loud at a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Politics

Since being sworn in for the second time on January 20, the president has reportedly spent all four weekends on the green, and played golf at his own properties on nine of his first 30 days in office

Economics

The signs aren’t good so far, but playing on Trump’s desperation to be seen as a great dealmaker would pay dividendsKenneth Roth is a former executive director of Human Rights Watch. His book, Righting Wrongs, is published on 25 FebruaryThe common wisdom is that Donald Trump’s foreign policy will be a disaster for human rights. Certainly his penchant for embracing autocrats and breaching norms bodes poorly, such as his outrageous proposal to force two million Palestinians out of Gaza – which would be a blatant war crime – or his suggestion that Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion. But Trump also likes to cut a deal, as shown by his paradoxically positive role in securing the current (precarious) Gaza ceasefire. If Trump the dealmaker can be nudged in the right direction, he might, against all odds, be brought to play a productive role for human rights.As executive director of Human Rights Watch, I spent more than three decades devising strategies to pressure or cajole leaders ...

Politics

In decades spent convincing world leaders to protect human rights, I’ve learned a thing or two about working with his typeKenneth Roth is a former executive director of Human Rights Watch and author of Righting WrongsThe common wisdom is that Donald Trump’s foreign policy will be a disaster for human rights. Certainly his penchant for embracing autocrats and breaching norms bodes poorly, such as his outrageous proposal to force two million Palestinians out of Gaza – which would be a blatant war crime – or his suggestion that Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion. But Trump also likes to cut a deal, as shown by his paradoxically positive role in securing the current (precarious) Gaza ceasefire. If Trump the dealmaker can be nudged in the right direction, he might, against all odds, be brought to play a productive role for human rights.As executive director of Human Rights Watch, I spent more than three decades devising strategies to pressure or cajole leaders to better respect ri...

Politics

Snatching funds from vulnerable minors will endanger those already at risk of being abused, advocates sayThe Trump administration abruptly cut off legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children on Tuesday, telling government-funded attorneys across the country they should immediately stop their work.Advocates called the decision shocking and warned that taking away legal aid programs would endanger minors already at risk of child trafficking, an issue that Trump and Republican members of his administration repeatedly highlighted as a concern during the 2024 election. The order to “stop all work” affects US non-profits that provide legal counsel for about 26,000 unaccompanied minors. Continue reading...

Events

Donald Trump’s demand for $500 billion in Ukrainian rare earth minerals as payback for military support during the war with Russia is unprecedented, says historian James Holland – more egregious even than the deal brokered 80 years ago to punish a defeated Germany

Politics

Quebec Vasquez came to America when she was a kid. She built a life here and had a family. Now, in response to the climate of fear caused by Donald Trump’s mass deportations, she has decided to return to the country of her birth, Richard Hall writes

Politics