A.G. Gancarski
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says an agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine to develop the latter’s rare earth minerals is nearing completion after an earlier false start.
On “Fox & Friends,” Rubio noted that the deal, which is being negotiated by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is “very close to the finish line.” And Rubio, an avid football fan, paid homage to Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and his reliable play in short-yardage situations to make his point.
“We were on not even the 1-yard line, we were like at the half-yard line,” Rubio told interviewer Brian Kilmeade. “Almost like when the Eagles pushed the quarterback across, you know that ‘tush push‘ thing. So it’s close and it’s good.”
Rubio has framed the deal with Ukraine as a way to ensure the country’s security after the cessation of hostilities with Russia, while simultaneously clawing back some of the substantial U.S. investment in the war effort.
“Some of that money will go back to pay back the U.S. taxpayer for the billions of dollars that’s been spent there,” Rubio said on the “Clay and Buck” show.
Through the end of the last fiscal year, Ukraine response funding neared $183 billion. The Donald Trump administration has proposed a deal worth $500 billion, which is under review by the Ukrainian government.
The happy talk contrasts with previous comments from Rubio on the subject. He said last week he was “very upset” after Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted the terms of postwar cooperation with the U.S., then seemingly called an audible on a key condition.
Rubio claimed Zelenskyy said the proposal “makes all the sense in the world” and said the Legislature would have to approve it — but the Ukrainian leader reversed his rhetoric in short order.
“I read two days later that Zelenskyy is out there saying, ‘I rejected the deal; I told them no way, that we’re not doing that.’ Well, that’s not what happened in that meeting. So, you start to get upset by somebody — we’re trying to help these guys,” Rubio told interviewer Catherine Herridge.
While it might have been the case that Zelenskyy wasn’t running the play Rubio called, the Secretary’s latest comments suggest that they may finally be aligned.
But time will tell.
As the Ukrainian leader told the British Broadcasting Corporation, the negotiation “framework … can be a big success,” but that will “depend on our conversation with President Trump.”
That bilateral discussion is scheduled for Friday.
7 comments
PeterH
February 26, 2025 at 9:34 am
……. Marco Rubio and Trump will force Russia to pay reparations to Ukraine for the extensive damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure during Russia’s bombing campaign.
🤡🤡
Lynn
February 26, 2025 at 10:23 am
In your dreams
PeterH
February 26, 2025 at 11:31 am
😴💤💭😴💭🛌🌙
I post magical thinking from time to time to wake Americans up to the grift.
Andy
February 26, 2025 at 9:43 am
Very sad, negotiating with Communists to sell out Ukraine citizens over minerals, typical apprentice BS! For years Putin had no equal, today we discover someone more vial than him! And many, many sheep to follow!
Paul Passarelli
February 26, 2025 at 9:56 am
Oh Andy, the paint that man put on your shoe must have been full of brown lead. It’s damaged your strawman brain. This is not Toy Story, it’s the real world.
I have no doubt Zelenskyy is smarter than Sleepy Joe. But now there is a real businessman in the White House.
If we get a deal for RE minerals then Ukraine has stability. Russia is annoyed, yet kept at bay. We get some of our otherwise *WASTED* funds back in the form of mineral security.
What’s your fuzz-brained alternative? Let the war drag on for three more years? Allow Russia to gradually absorb more Ukraine territory? Take those minerals by force?
I suggest you put down your copy of “Rainbow Fish”, and pick up “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu.
PeterH
February 26, 2025 at 11:35 am
“..a real businessman” ……with six bankruptcies subsidized by the US taxpayer. Read today’s Washington Post expose on the $38 billion in Government subsidies paid to Musk in the past twenty years.
MH/Duuuval
February 26, 2025 at 10:58 pm
Imagine a handshake deal with Putin’s poodle and what that might be worth. NOTHING.
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