Europe Watch

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The financial payoff from a new minerals deal between Ukraine and the US is likely to take a decade or longer as investors face many hurdles to getting new mines into production in the war-ravaged country.

Developing mines that produce strategically important minerals in countries with established mining sectors such as Canada and Australia can take 10 to 20 years, mining consultants said on Thursday.

But most mineral deposits in Ukraine have scant data to confirm they are economically viable. Investors may also baulk at funnelling money into a country where infrastructure such as power and transport has been devastated by Russia’s three-year-old full-scale invasion and future security is not guaranteed.

“If anyone’s thinking suddenly all these minerals are going to be flying out of Ukraine, they’re dreaming,” said Adam Webb, head of minerals at consultancy Benchmark Minerals Intelligence.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Monday bilateral talks with Ukraine for the first time in years, and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was prepared for…

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US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement “this week,” possibly to end their war of more than three years. He also said the two rivals could then do “big business” with the United States and “make a fortune.”

“Hopefully Russia amd (sic) Ukraine will make a deal this week. Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a big fortune!” Trump posted to his Truth Social network.

However, he did not share details of any progress in peace talks Washington has sought to push forward between Moscow and Kyiv, since he took over from Joe Biden in January.
The US president’s Truth Social post comes just days after his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned that Washington could “move on” from its push to broker an agreement to end the conflict, which began in February 2022.
“We need to figure out here now within a matter of days whether this is doable in the short term, because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio said on Friday in Paris, after high-level discussions with European and Ukrainian leaders.

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A Russian propagandist has taken to state TV to issue a direct threat of nuclear war against the UK, as well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s coalition of the willing

Vladimir Solovyov threatened the West with nuclear war(Image: (Image: Getty))

Vladimir Putin’s mouthpiece has threatened Sir Keir Starmer and his “coalition of the willing” with nuclear warfare. Vladimir Solovyov, a well-known conduit for the Russian leader’s rhetoric and an avid commentator on Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, delivered the dire warning as a retort to Western media narratives and European countries’ aid to Ukraine.

During his ‘Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov’ broadcast, the figurehead of Kremlin thinking declared the UK and US “are directly waging war against us”.

And in a direct threat to the West, he warned world leaders they would “feel their consequences” the same as the soldiers on the frontline.

Bogged down in east Ukraine, Putin’s Russia eyes ‘opportunistic’ gains in northern Sumy– www.france24.com
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Russia’s grisly Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy has focused attention on the northern Ukrainian region where Kyiv says an expected Russian spring offensive is already under way. Experts say the push into Sumy is aimed at stretching Ukraine’s defensive lines and projecting an image of Russian progress on the front – even as Moscow’s war of attrition in the east grinds to a bloody stalemate.

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German chemical companies and French utility firms have both suggested the necessity of importing cheap Russian energy

Germany’s chemical industry is in a “severe crisis” and in dire need of a return to cheap Russian gas, Reuters reported on Monday, citing executives in the sector. French energy majors Engie and Total have also told the agency that they could see a restart of imports of  hydrocarbon from Russia.

With a turnover of €225.5 billion in 2023, chemicals and pharmaceuticals are Germany’s third-largest industry, behind automotive and machinery and equipment, according to the European Chemical Industry Council.

The EU committed to eliminating Russian gas imports by 2027, following the escalation of conflict between Kiev and Moscow three years ago. Brussels aimed  to replace them with more expensive  liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the United States.