New deal on subsoil, Trumpʼs threats to Putin, and the European contingent in Ukraine. Weekly digest

During the week, events in Ukraine were closely intertwined with those in the United States. Washington offered Kyiv a new deal on subsoil — larger and less profitable, and the US President Donald Trump became furious with Putin and openly threatened him with new tariffs on Russian oil. In part because he did not agree to a truce with Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia continued shelling, killing Ukrainians and destroying civilian infrastructure.

Babel has collected the main news of the week to keep you up to date.

The US wants Ukrainian minerals along with oil and gas

The United States is proposing a new deal on Ukrainian minerals, as well as oil and gas, without offering security guarantees in return. The Financial Times, which has seen the draft agreement, writes that Washington is aggressively expanding its demands. In Kyiv, they believe that this could undermine Ukraineʼs sovereignty, divert profits abroad and deepen the countryʼs dependence on the United States.

However, Kyiv will ask to change the agreement, demanding in return an increase in the volume of American investments.

Trump threatens Putin

US President Donald Trump was “very angry” and “furious” when Putin questioned the authority of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and threatened Russia with additional tariffs on its oil. Trump also dislikes the Kremlin’s unwillingness to negotiate a ceasefire that the US so desperately wants.

Earlier this week, the US agreed with Ukraine and Russia to ban attacks in the Black Sea, but Russia later began to make new demands, which is delaying the implementation of the agreement.

European contingent in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron outlined his vision for a European deterrent force in Ukraine. Among his main points was that Europeʼs priority now is to make the Ukrainian army, the largest army in Europe, as strong as possible so that it can be the greatest deterrent to Russia from future attacks. To this end, a Franco-British mission will be sent to Ukraine to work on strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

However, amid discussions about sending troops to Ukraine, Europe wants to consider alternative options. Some European countries do not accept the prospect of sending peacekeeping troops without firm guarantees from the United States and an international mandate.

Assistance to Ukraine continues

Europe is stepping up support for Ukraine after the United States withdrew its offer. This week, Sweden announced it would provide more than €7 million for Ukraine for demining and drones, and also announced “the largest rearmament plan since the Cold War” and increased aid to Ukraine. The Drone Coalition has allocated €20 million for reconnaissance drones for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, France will provide Ukraine with a new €2 billion military aid package, which will include Milan anti-tank missiles, air defense systems, Mirage aircraft missiles, Mistral ground defense missiles, AMX-10RC armored vehicles, ammunition, etc.

NYT investigated the role of Americans in the war in Ukraine

The New York Times has conducted a major investigation into the role of Americans in Ukrainian operations against Russia. It turned out that, as the White House joked during Joe Bidenʼs presidency, Washington knew more about Russiaʼs plans through espionage than about the intentions of its partner, Ukraine. Here are the most interesting facts:

• In the summer of 2024, Ukraine damaged the Crimean bridge with American ATACMS missiles. Previously, strikes on the Crimean bridge had been a red line for the United States. However, this time, the White House authorized military and intelligence officials to secretly work with the Ukrainians and the British to plan an attack that would destroy the bridge.
• The United States was furious that Ukraine had sunk the Russian Navyʼs flagship, the cruiser “Moskva”, without warning. Washington was surprised that Ukraine had missiles capable of hitting such a ship. And scared, because the Biden administration had no plans to allow the Ukrainians to attack such a powerful symbol of Russian power.
• Ukraineʼs Kursk operation was a serious breach of trust — thatʼs how it was perceived in the US. It was not coordinated with Washington. They generally didnʼt know about it there.

Russia continues shelling Ukraine

A few weeks ago, the US proposed an unconditional ceasefire. Ukraine agreed. Instead, Russian drones, Russian bombs, artillery fire, ballistic missiles are flying into Ukraine every day. The Russians used drones to strike a military hospital in Kharkiv, killing two people.

Four people were killed in Dnipro due to Russian strikes on civilian objects. Before that, the Russian occupiers launched a missile strike on the center of Sumy. Almost 70 people were injured.

Secret US data leaked in Signal chat

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said that a user with the nickname Mike Waltz — the name of Trump’s national security adviser — added him to a closed chat on the Signal messenger. There, senior officials discussed airstrikes on Yemeni Houthi positions. Shortly after, direct attacks on Yemen took place. Waltz later claimed responsibility for the incident.

The head of the Pentagon, the directors of the US National Intelligence and CIA, as well as President Donald Trump, denied that military plans and classified information were discussed in the Signal messenger. Then journalists from The Atlantic decided to publish this correspondence. As the WSJ found out, Israel provided the US with intelligence for strikes on the Houthis, which was discussed in the Signal chat, and is now disappointed by the leak.

The US President Donald Trump seriously considered firing National Security Adviser Mike Waltz over the Signal chat leak, but he backed off, in part because he didnʼt want to make his critics happy.

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