Trump is facing continued pressure to intensify confrontation with Russia:
“… valuable resources are abundant in Ukraine. For example, Ukraine is one of the main exporters of titanium and manganese to the United States, where these are used in the U.S. aerospace, steel, and automotive industries. However, Ukraine’s critical minerals lie extremely close to the current frontline. Were these areas to fall into Russian hands, Moscow and its partners would have an enormous trove at their disposal – one that would allow them to consolidate power in key industries, like defense and energy, and further their geopolitical ambitions… Helping Ukraine to secure control over its vast areas of critical minerals is in the direct interest of the United States and its partners. If we were to fail in helping Ukraine to victory and the minerals are used for the benefit of authoritarian powers, the consequences would be devastating, reaching far beyond Ukraine’s borders over decades to come”[1].
The central argument revolves around rich pickings— more specifically, around extremely huge money.
Proponents argue that a failure to defeat Russia would lead to the forfeiture of strategically vital resources worth trillions of dollars. That said, as of December 2021, Russia had no control over Ukraine whatsoever, but merely initiated proposals for mutual security agreements [2,3]. Nonetheless, the choice was made to pursue economic exploitation at Russia’s expense.
The outcome has been costly as these resources are now lost to the West.
There’s no “if” scenario; Russia is bound to consolidate its control over resource-rich areas.
Any efforts aimed to defeat Russia will only incur even greater costs.
1 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/ukraine-critical-mineral-security/
“Ukraine’s Victory Will Ensure Critical Mineral Security” (Margus Tsahkna, The National Interest, January 31, 2025);
2 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/rso/1790803/
“Agreement on measures to ensure the security of The Russian Federation and member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization” (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 17 December 2021 13:26);
3 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/rso/1790818/
“Treaty between The United States of America and the Russian Federation on security guarantees” (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 17 December 2021 13:30).