Rare earths, raw deal
Ukraine, Russia, the UK, Europe, Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and pandemics.
The five things you need to know today:
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Washington's agreement with Kyiv is fool's gold.
BRITAIN. EUROPE. London leads the charge to regional rearmament.
CANADA. UNITED STATES. Keystone won’t happen amid low prices and high tariffs.
AUSTRALIA. NEW ZEALAND. Questions are raised over maritime surveillance.
PANDEMICS. A mystery disease comes at the worst possible time.
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UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Mine games
Washington's agreement with Kyiv is fool's gold.
Washington and Kyiv agreed to a framework minerals deal, media said Tuesday, which Volodymyr Zelensky would sign at the White House on Friday. A draft seen by journalists included no security or investment obligations on either party.
INTELLIGENCE. Without a demand for $350 billion for the US, or defence guarantees for Ukraine, the deal seems hollow but thankfully won’t turn what’s left of Ukraine into a 1920s Rhineland. It begs the question of what’s it for. Trump seemed genuinely angered when Zelensky refused to pay reparations. The result could thus be a face-saving compromise. At the very least, it seems to have goaded Russia and Europe into making economic offers of their own.
FOR BUSINESS. The argument that US investment would deter future Russian aggression was about as flimsy as the pulverised McDonalds restaurant that now barely stands in Kyiv. And the argument that the US had a right to Ukrainian minerals because it didn't get oil in Iraq had the logic of a medieval despot. There’s unlikely to be a US-led revival in Ukrainian mining either way. Beyond the likely barrier of tariffs, unsanctioned Russian markets will drive down prices.
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BRITAIN. EUROPE. Keir armer
London leads the charge to regional rearmament.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and target 3% in future. The boost from the current 2.3% would come from a 40% cut to foreign aid. The US said it was “a strong step.”
INTELLIGENCE. Starmer will join EU leaders in talks on an EU defence fund before he visits Washington. Germany is