Comments by "Louis Giokas" (@louisgiokas2206) on "Sacrificial Pawn in Us-Russia Deal? Xi Jinping Is Really Desperate" video.

People mischaracterize the minerals agreement. Yes, it would allow the US to get back money. But Trump has also said that it would cement ties between Ukraine and the US, thus making it harder for Putin to try to invade again. The other, and equally important aspect is that Ukraine does not have the money to exploit these resources. It will take western capital to do so. Frankly there were oil majors starting exploration in eastern Ukraine before the war. They had to stop, of course. Ukraine is a poor country. They were persuaded to give up their nuclear weapons, in part, because they could not afford to keep them in working order. By the way, Ukraine would get as much as the US out of the deal, as well as good paying jobs. They will need it.
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The Chinese news outlets are entirely correct. Trump is trying to "buy Russia". He is doing, in reverse, what Richard Nixon did in opening up to China in the 1970s. At that time the idea was to get China onside against the Soviets. It worked, by the way. It was a second front type of strategy. Now, Trump is trying to get the Russians onside to counter the CCP. This is a brilliant strategy. There is no love lost between CCP led China and Russia, despite their leaders' statements to the contrary. China is making encroachments into Russia's near abroad as well as into Russia itself. Xi has said many times he is unhappy with the unequal treaties with the Russians going back to the Qing dynasty. On top of that the Russian people are not happy buying Chinese goods, especially compared to the western goods they were getting before. One other thing that is of interest here. If sanctions on Russia were to be eased, they could drive down oil prices. This would help with inflation in the US and around the world, and would, paradoxically, help China.
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@secretbassrigs Good point. That is true as well. I was concerned with the economic aspects. Thanks.
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