US and Ukraine sign deal to create the Reconstruction Investment Fund — the long-awaited mineral deal that gives the US rights to Ukrainian rare earth.
I don’t think China needs to puppet Russia here. If the US attempts to operationalize its resource rights in Ukraine, it will be deploying logistics, mercenaries, and security forces directly under US command. Some Ukrainian forces will continue their connection with ISIS and become stochastic threats in the region, requiring US military escalation. This will be just another way to field an active military on Russia’s most vulnerable border, and Russia cannot allow this, which was the whole reason for Russian aggression in Ukraine in the first place.
So without China at all, Russia has every incentive to prevent the US from landing extractives operations in Ukraine and may need to fight all the way to Kiev, which is incredibly risky for Russia. Based on that, it may actually be Russia asking China for support because it fears over extending itself.
I don’t think China needs to puppet Russia here. If the US attempts to operationalize its resource rights in Ukraine, it will be deploying logistics, mercenaries, and security forces directly under US command. Some Ukrainian forces will continue their connection with ISIS and become stochastic threats in the region, requiring US military escalation. This will be just another way to field an active military on Russia’s most vulnerable border, and Russia cannot allow this, which was the whole reason for Russian aggression in Ukraine in the first place.
So without China at all, Russia has every incentive to prevent the US from landing extractives operations in Ukraine and may need to fight all the way to Kiev, which is incredibly risky for Russia. Based on that, it may actually be Russia asking China for support because it fears over extending itself.