Edit: I meant to leave this empty to start, but to clarify now that there’s other discussion:
“Access to minerals” doesn’t necessarily mean “discounted” or “mineral rights”. It could be a deal consisting of:
- Military aid goes to EU defence industry supplies
- In exchange, EU gets first dibs at market rate contracts (with some tax-exempt on on the EU side for imports to make it more appealing to take advantage of on both sides) for metals/mineral extraction.
This could help spur Ukraine’s post-war economy, integration with EU markets, and benefit the EU defence industry. It would also demonstrate what a real and fair deal looks like.
We don’t have it yet. Absolutely no question. Not really sure why folks are arguing otherwise.
Russian capacity to produce military equipment far outstrips Europe. EU have been pumping grant money into building capacity since 2022 but I’m not sure how far it’s come.
How we’re not on a war footing since the invasion and especially since it became clear that at best the US election was a toss up I will never understand.