A Deal With the Devil: Watching Trump Negotiate Away Our Future
FEBRUARY 27, 2025
For two years, we have fought, bled, and suffered to defend our land, our homes, and our right to exist as a free nation. We have lost fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters to Russian bombs. We have watched our cities be reduced to rubble, our fields turned into battlefields, and our children grow up under the constant threat of death.
And now, as we watch Donald Trump negotiate a so-called “peace deal” in exchange for Ukraine’s valuable minerals, we feel a new kind of terror—one that is colder and cuts deeper than the missiles that fall from the sky. This is not just about ending a war. This is about selling our future, our sovereignty, and everything we have sacrificed for, all in the name of a deal that serves American and Russian interests while leaving us defenseless.
For months, Trump has spoken of a swift end to the war. He boasts that he can end it in “24 hours.” But we know what that means. It means surrender. It means Ukraine giving up its territory, its independence, and now, its natural wealth—all so that the world can move on from our suffering.
We know the resources beneath our land are valuable. Ukraine holds some of the richest deposits of lithium, titanium, and rare earth metals in Europe—minerals that power the world’s technology, military industries, and economies. These resources are a key part of our future, the foundation on which we hoped to rebuild a strong, independent Ukraine after the war.
Now, we watch in horror as Trump signals that our minerals could be used as a bargaining chip. Would he push us to trade our natural wealth for an empty promise of “peace” with Russia? Would he strike a deal where American companies take control of our land in exchange for withdrawing support, leaving us vulnerable and broken?
Now, we watch in horror as Trump signals that our minerals could be used as a bargaining chip. Would he push us to trade our natural wealth for an empty promise of “peace” with Russia? Would he strike a deal where American companies take control of our land in exchange for withdrawing support, leaving us vulnerable and broken?
We fought to keep Ukraine free, not to see it auctioned off to the highest bidder. Who Does This Deal Serve? A true peace deal would ensure Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, and independence. But that is not what Trump is negotiating.
We have learned from history. We know that when authoritarians negotiate peace, it is never for the benefit of the oppressed—it is for the benefit of the powerful. Trump and Putin have made no secret of their admiration for each other. They are men who see the world in terms of deals and transactions, not in terms of human lives. To them, Ukraine is not a nation of people fighting for survival; it is a problem to be solved, an asset to be divided.
We know that when authoritarians negotiate peace, it is never for the benefit of the oppressed—it is for the benefit of the powerful.
The ones who would benefit from this deal are clear. Putin would get the land and control he has long desired, securing his grip on Ukraine’s occupied territories with international recognition. Trump would claim a political victory, boasting that he “ended the war” without a single American bullet fired. Western corporations would gain access to Ukraine’s critical resources at a bargain price.
And what would we, the Ukrainian people, get in return? The answer is simple: nothing. No security guarantees. No justice for the crimes committed against us. No assurance that Russia won’t return in five years, ten years, to take more.
