Guess Why Saudi Arabia is Hosting the Ukraine Truce Talks?

[GreatGazoo]

Oil. (You don't seem surprised...)

Oil is why the KSA is hosting. Leaks from back channel sources say that the US has asked Russia to pay back all of our costs for the Ukraine war -- $350 billion -- as a condition of the truce. They say that asking Ukraine for $500 billion in rare earth minerals last week was just posturing but publicly establishes an asking price for ending the conflict. One scenario is that Ukraine and Russia jointly pay back the $350 bil with Russia taking the more public position.

Briefly reviewing: the sanctions which were put on Russia in 2022 did not have the desired impact. Russian oil traded to third countries who in turn sold it to countries with no sanctions. The USA wants to drop the price of oil while getting as much energy trading back on the USD as possible. The KSA has conflicting interests -- loves high oil prices but is the central player in the longstanding petro-dollar. Thus KSA will be at the table for the negotiation to end the Ukraine war.

Meanwhile Germany is looking to rebound as energy costs drop and EU defense contractors have already risen in trading over the weekend as the US backs off of both NATO and the Ukraine conflict. SAAB (who I only knew as the maker of goofy looking cars) is up 28% in 3 days.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Stupid tRump always thought asking ridiculous first ask is Art of the Deal. It just makes him look stupid. . . nt

[Walleye]

3. Yeah, Russia will pay for the war about when he delivers his beautiful healthcare plan

[GreatGazoo]

8. Pay for it with a fraction of Ukraine's minerals

which is a big part of the invasion and war has been about.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-rare-earth-minerals-trump-zelensky-b2699904.html

[Lovie777]

2. That in itself...........................

is hard to believe.

[marble falls]

4. Counter intuitive. The US is the largest oil producer in the world and is a net exporter.

[GreatGazoo]

6. Dropping the price of oil is how YKW said he will

end inflation.

[Quakerfriend]

10. However, the EU and China announced yesterday

that they will buy from Canada and not the US now.

We shall see how this plays out.

[GreatGazoo]

11. Different grades of oil

Sweet light Texas crude is commonly refined abroad. Meanwhile Alberta oil is dirtier and commonly piped to Texas (!) to be refined there. (It's a crazy world)

As oil gets cheaper, many wells stop pumping because the cost to refine dirtier oil, like tar Sands, makes it unprofitable when prices drop. A sustained price drop will hurt Canada more than other countries.

[Quakerfriend]

12. Very interesting! Thank you for that info. 👍

[Walleye]

5. Russia won't pay, that would be admitting they started the war. Which they have lied about all along.

[GreatGazoo]

7. The good minerals are mostly in the occupied regions

>"Ukraine is sitting on one of Europe’s largest deposits of critical minerals, including lithium and titanium, much of which is untapped. According to the Institute of Geology, Ukraine possesses rare earth elements such as lanthanum and cerium, used in TVs and lighting; neodymium, used in wind turbines and EV batteries; and erbium and yttrium, whose applications range from nuclear power to lasers. The EU-funded research also indicates that Ukraine has scandium reserves but detailed data is classified.

Mr Zelensky has been trying to develop these resources, estimated to be worth more than £12 trillion, based on figures provided by Forbes Ukraine, for years...."<

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-rare-earth-minerals-trump-zelensky-b2699904.html

[Walleye]

9. So international treaties mean nothing anymore. What's important is exploiting the people in the resources

And doing it in the cruelest way possible. Trump and Putin think they are entitled to own everything valuable in the world, and have no responsibility towards the people