Washington Fantasyland - The Prime Minister of Mississippi Comes to Visit.

Rare Earths Are Very Rare - At Least in Ukraine.

The air in Washington is more than usually clouded with fantasy this week, topped off by Volodomyr Zelenski’s ill-judged belief that it is a good idea to argue with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, on TV. But prior to that, we heard much about a supposed treasure trove of rare earth and other priceless minerals buried in the soil of Ukraine. Excited by the notion, Trump claimed an outsize share in return for continued U.S. support of the Kyiv regime, and the media have dutifully accepted his claims as fact. Reporters scrambled to unearth details of negotiations on sharing the bonanza, along with outraged denunciation of Trump’s “protection racket” diplomacy.

But there is no there there.

As Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas pungently explained, “What Ukraine has is scorched earth; what it doesn’t have is rare earths.” This pertinent fact should not be a secret. Blas’s source is the U.S. Geological Survey which helpfully publishes a list of countries that do have the relevant exotic materials deemed vital for a modern economy. China holds the lion’s share, followed by Vietnam, Brazil and a host of others. Ukraine doesn’t rate a mention. As Blas put it “The US Geological Survey, an authority on the matter, doesn’t list the country as holding any reserves. Neither does any other database commonly used in the mining business.”

As it turned out, Zelensky opted to argue with Trump and VP Vance. So the prospective deal on rare earths that don’t exist, at least not in Ukraine, was not signed.

This world of make-believe was a fitting venue for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who arrived in Washington intent on deflecting Trump from impose crippling tariffs on British goods and equally keen to deflect Trump’s diplomatic outreach to Vladimir Putin, obviously the only way to end the ongoing slaughter in Ukraine. Starmer doesn’t like that idea at all. Like other bellicose European leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, his most fervent desire is to keep the war going. Thus, while Trump spoke hopefully of negotiating a ceasefire with Putin, Starmer quickly said that any agreement should not “reward the aggressor,” and should “stop Putin coming back for more.” In other words, Putin, in Starmer’s view, should have no incentive to negotiate in the first place.

It Get’s Worse