The main event of the past week in global politics was the symbolic 100-day mark of Donald Trump's second presidency. For Ukrainian politics, the main event was the signing of the Minerals Agreement (also called the Agreement on Subsoil or Rare Earth Metals; for simplicity and brevity, we will refer to it as the Agreement).

Both events coincided in time and took place on the same day. And this is no coincidence. This deal is linked to Trump by the very fact of its birth. Apparently, its further fate will also be linked to the 47th President of the United States.

Much has been said about the content and problems of this Agreement. So I will focus on its paradoxes. Perhaps this will help to better understand its political controversy and likely future.

Birth trauma

The idea of this Agreement belongs to President Zelensky. In any case, his "Victory Plan," which he presented to Biden and Trump in September 2024, included a proposal for joint mining of rare earth metals with the United States and the need for security guarantees for Ukraine to protect this joint economic project.

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