Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on Ukraine reaching a minerals deal with the US

Ukraine and the US have agreed to a framework for a minerals deal, according to Ukrainian officials.

The broad outlines of the deal would grant Washington partial access to Ukraine’s minerals, oil and gas, part of an effort by the Trump Administration to recoup the cost of US war aid.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to arrive in Washington in the coming days to sign the agreement.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business twenty two away from five dammit
since our US correspondent Dan Good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey, Ryan, Good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
So do we know what exactly is in this deal yet?
With Ukraine?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, I mean there's things that are starting to leak out.
We know that at least according to a number of reports,
it's about five hundred million dollars worth of mineral rights
and natural resources over there. And the President today didn't
confirm that an agreement had been reached, but he said
that you know, if this deal does go forward, that
Ukraine would get the right to fight on he you know,

(00:38):
he said they were brave. He said without the US
and the money and military equipment we're providing, the war
would have been over in a short period of time. So,
as we understand it, President Zelensky will be coming to Washington,
he'll be here on Friday and they will sign this
this agreement.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
And is this deal separate to any peace deal that
might being a go shaded with Russia, because you know
it conceivably could you have this deal, the mineral deal
in place, and the war continue with American backing, Well.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
That's a good question. I think that's what we're waiting
to find out. Because the President was asked whether we're
going to continue to supply you know, equipment and AMMO
to Ukraine, and he said, well, maybe until we have a.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Deal with Russia.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
He says, we need to have a deal otherwise it's
going to continue. So if I was Ukraine and I
was coming over here and I was President Zelenski signing this,
I'd still be a little leary about what I was
getting myself into saying, well, wait a minute, we're signing this,
but you're also saying at the same time, this is
good until we get a better deal.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
And the DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk
is sort of in charge of, they have canceled a
whole bunch of contracts, government procurement contracts. Nearly forty percent
of them are expected to produce no savings.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, yeah, and the reason is, and there's been a
big claim by the President by Elon Musk too, that
they're making these costs, these cuts and they're not expected
to save the government any money at this point. And
this is according to the administration's own data. And that's
because these contracts had already been obligated, which means the
government has, you know, a legal requirement to send the

(02:14):
money or the funds for the goods and services that
it purchased, and in many cases it's already done so.
So despite the billions that Musk says the government saving
over here are cutting. It's sort of a shell game
at this point. I think a year from now or
maybe the next round of budgeting and budget talks, that's
going to give us a little bit better, maybe more
of a transparent idea of the real savings.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
The culprit behind a disturbing government TV heck, this is Trump?
Well was he licking the toes, touching, he was kissing.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
He was kissing the feet of Evon Musk. And it
was an AI generated video. I got to tell you, though, Ryan,
I mean, AI is so realistic. I mean, I don't
know how many times I've watched this and in a
few other videos and you're like, it just looks so
real and it's gone viral. It was playing on unauthorized
TV monitors at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development,

(03:10):
and it was calling Musk the real King, and I
think it was a reference to to President Trump calling
himself the King after he claimed to kill a congestion
pricing program that was in New York City. But I
mean tens of millions of people have already watched this.
It's unclear how the footage kind of got on all
these cafeteria television screens. But a spokesperson for HUDD says,

(03:31):
you know what, this is another waste of taxpair dollars
and resources and the person responsible is going to be
well is out of a job. But yeah, I don't
know how many taxpair dollars was actually, you know, went
into this, or if it was just somebody with a
little too much time on their hands.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Sounds like a job for Doge Dan. Thank you, Dan Mitchson.
Now you've as correspondent for more from Hither duplessy Allen Drive.
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