Moscow [Russia], February 20: Russia, like U.S. President Donald Trump, covets Ukraine's natural resources - and on the ground its forces are closing in on a giant lithium deposit.
Trump said this month he wants Kyiv to hand over large quantities of its critical minerals in return for U.S. military support, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy to declare: "Let's do a deal."
Yet as Washington and Moscow prepare for negotiations aimed at ending the three-year-old war, the reality is that it's Vladimir Putin who's taking increasing control of Ukraine's riches.
Russian forces, which have already seized a fifth of Ukraine including reserves of rare earths, are now little more than 4 miles from the Shevchenko lithium deposit and advancing on it from three different angles, according to open-source data from Ukrainian military blog Deep State.
"Given the current battlefield tempo, it's likely that the Russians will reach this area in the coming weeks," said Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, who has just returned from a research trip to Ukraine.
He said the seizure of Ukraine's mineral wealth, while not the main war aim, was among Russia's strategic goals.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
