China fulfills Mao’s vision: expert on U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals deal

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

“The Americans will not leave us alone on the issue of rare earth metals, as dependence on China and tariffs are not just a Trumpian whim. This is part of a systemic American policy that began back in 2018, when during Trump's first presidency it was recognized that the American defense industry was overly dependent on supplies from China,” Kyrychevskyi said.

According to the military expert, if we simplify the description of the level of U.S. dependence on China, the picture looks like this: Russian missiles with Chinese components are flying at Ukraine, and we shoot them down with American missiles that also contain Chinese components. That is, China is behind all of this. Even Mao Zedong proclaimed that China should mediate between the United States and Russia, and today's China has realized this idea. If there were a different administration in the White House now, it would probably have to do the same.

“In 2023, reputable American analysts warned their target audience of decision-makers in U.S. government circles that the U.S. military-industrial complex was overly dependent on Chinese rare earth metals. That is, to wage war against China, Americans need missiles, and the components for them also come from China. The problem of this dependence has remained unresolved for a long time, and the United States is trying to overcome it, probably at our expense,” Kyrychevskyi explained.

Minerals deal: background

On Thursday, March 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the U.S. is pushing for a full agreement on minerals to be signed immediately instead of a framework agreement.

On March 28, media reports surfaced that the administration of the U.S. President Donald Trump had reintroduced a provision requiring Ukraine to reimburse all aid provided by the U.S. since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

During the government Q&A hour in the Verkhovna Rada on March 28, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that the government had received a draft minerals agreement from the U.S. and was working on forming its position.

Later, Zelenskyy commented on the new U.S. draft agreement on Ukrainian rare earth minerals, stating that it contained provisions both sides had previously rejected.

On March 31, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the Ukrainian leader was looking to back out of the minerals deal.

On the same day, it became known that Ukraine and the United States discussed the American draft of the fossil fuel agreement for the first time.

On April 4, Zelenskyy said that next week lawyers would present him with the main points of the Ukrainian draft of the rare earth minerals agreement with the United States.