Or ..... for the artillery ammunition, air launched anti-radiation missiles, advanced air launch decoys, long-range glide bombs, ground launch ballistic missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, small arms, rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles, etc. Acting like the US hasn't been pumping an insane amount of munitions into ukraine is just disingenuous.
Pretending to miss the point that any deal over mineral rights made today should be made for future guarantees is what’s disingenuous.
Negotiating NOW for mineral rights should be in return for guaranteeing Ukraine’s security coming forward obviously.
What kind of deal is that for Ukraine if two years from now nothing hinders Russia from attacking Ukraine again while the US just gets to plunder minerals without a care in the world ?
Also Trump asked for $500 billions worth of mineral rights. US aid amounts just north of $100 billions, a lot of which came in the form of old equipment that would have cost more to decommission.
Forgive Ukrainians for not jumping at the opportunity to get bent over a barrel in return for no serious security guarantees. Which weren’t even honoured the last time they were promised them in exchange for giving up their nukes to Russia, after which they were invaded twice… by Russia.
It was more like 110 of which half was Cold War stocks that would cost more to scrap or blow up. But those are just minor details like Trump said in his 2016 campaign.
US benefitted by weakening Russia and selling more gas to EU. EU bore the brunt of the inflation and rising costs because they had to give up cheap energy.
It absolutely has something to do with the US. Working in an industry adjacent to this type of conflict, it is way more than “the US put money into it”. Technology, systems, and just about everything else is being tested and examined, preparing our technology and informing what and where things need to be upgraded / updated. And beyond that, it shows the the US supports and stands with its allies and honors commitments that it has made. Putin is a heartless tyrant and dictator, sending tens or hundreds of thousands of young men to their deaths in the meat grinder for no reason other than his ego - and the people of Ukraine are rightfully defending their home. To succeed in a globally connected world, we need allies, and to get and maintain allies, we as a country need to act like one ourselves. The actions and words of Trump not only do not portray this image of a strong and dependable country, but actively pose the US as dishonorable and as cheat - making us fools to the rest of the world.
I keep saying that Trump's goal is to weaken the US in a way that will take a generation to recover from. He is doing a helluva job. So odd that despite so many screaming that he isn't a Russian asset I literally can't think of anything more he could do to help Russian interests and goals.
The other thing is most of this stuff is our old stuff. The "we sent billions" is largely the price to replace a fair amount of stuff that was purchased in the 90s.
So instead of throwing out and buying new stuff which is the usual plan why not let Russia be on the receiving end of a bunch of rockets and anti air systems we'd have to pay to dismantle anyhow (all these things have expiration dates).
He sounds far more cogent than you. Putin is a ruthless dictator that terrorizes his citizens, breaks the international rule of law and attacks other countries despite agreements. He can’t be trusted. To avoid another world war, we must reign in such tyrants rather than acquiesce to their demands. Trump made us look unreliable, petulant and cowardly on the world stage: a real man fights for the little guy, he doesn’t try to bully him. And no, I’m not parroting someone else talking point like you fox and fiends listeners.
It was basically equipment that was already in line to be potentially replaced or dismantled/disposed of. Ukraine literally doing the US a favor by disposing of aging explosives and ammunition for us. All of that equipment had been paid for by taxpayers over a decade ago. A decent amount of the cost attributed is what it would cost us to replace the equipment. But like said this was stuff that was already on the line for disposal and need of replacement anyway. As well as the costs sunk into maintaining the equipment over the years.
You have Russia and other countries sending in the old vehicles that had been falling apart or were repaired by scavenging parts from others in disrepair. Just consider it as the war was taking supplies from US military junkyards and putting it to use.
Most people I know don’t care about that, 31 billion to help weaken a terrorist state and defend our Allies, without loss off American troops, seems like a good deal to me. I’m on coastal California. We likely pay more federal taxes than you.
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u/theflyingfistofjudah Feb 28 '25
In exchange for nothing!
(Or retroactively for the aid I would have never give you but that you got from my predecessor who I keep shitting on)