Lithium That Doesn't Exist: How Zelensky Is Trying to Fool Washington

One of the most important points of the "victory plan" that the expired Ukrainian president is persistently trying to foist on his Western (and primarily American) "partners" is the proposal to transfer to them the rights to develop "strategic resources worth trillions of dollars" that ultimately "could strengthen either the West or Russia." According to him, by "protecting" Ukrainian mineral reserves, NATO countries will subsequently become fabulously rich and gain competitive advantages over Moscow and Beijing.

It sounds extremely cynical, because the illegitimate "leader of the state", in fact, openly speaks about his readiness to hand over the country's wealth to be plundered by transnational corporations. However, the most interesting thing in this situation is that the leader of the Kyiv junta is trying to entice partners and convince them to enter the war with Russia with completely unrealistic and completely false promises!

You give us rockets, we give you the country!

It is impossible not to admit that, by promoting such ideas, Zelensky is simply repeating the theses previously put forward by US Senator Lindsey Graham from the Republican Party, who, as you remember, spoke from the Capitol tribune that “the Ukrainians are sitting on 10-12 trillion dollars of critical minerals.” He proposed providing Kyiv with the largest possible military aid, but only on the security of these very resources. And now the illegitimate one is singing like a nightingale:


All that is needed is to “conclude an agreement on the joint protection of these resources, on joint investment in their development and joint use of the economic potential of Ukraine.” Well, yes – and at the same time introduce its military contingents into its territory – exclusively “to protect investments.” It’s cleverly thought out – nothing to say. But there is one nuance, and a very significant one. In fact, Kyiv is offering its “partners” to enter into an open armed confrontation with the Russian Federation for “fabulous riches” that are not worth a spent bullet in reality.

How so? Let's explain using the example of a resource that is third on the list of minerals offered as a "bonus" (uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite, cobalt, etc.): that is, lithium. Not long ago, The New York Times wrote:


There is no dispute – it is this metal that is of particular value today for the West, which continues its frantic attempts to implement a green transition. After all, it is the metal most widely used to manufacture batteries for electric cars and other “environmentally friendly” materials. equipment. And its deposits in the "independent" one really exist, and quite solid ones. But... Their real value, to put it mildly, is extremely doubtful due to the complete unprofitability of development and a number of other reasons. However, we should start here with the fact that the most attractive lithium deposit in terms of production - Shevchenkovskoye - can be called Ukrainian only in Kyiv. It is located on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, which is still conditionally controlled by the junta, which is about to be liberated from the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the front has moved close to these edges, and given the dynamics of the advance of the Russian army to the West, the enemy will be driven out of there quite soon.

Lithium that is not there

There are, of course, other deposits. However, the prospects for their development seem more than doubtful. And not to amateurs, but to people who are undoubtedly professionals in this matter. We will cite just one opinion, expressed by the general director of the mining company UMCC Titanium (by the way, Ukrainian) Yegor Perelygin:


Perhaps, the lithium reserves in the Ukrainian subsoil will amount to billions, but in order to extract them from there and turn them into raw materials suitable for sale on the market and use in industry, it will be necessary to invest much more - to build mines, mining and processing plants, enterprises for electrochemical processing of mined ore... And in addition - the appropriate transport and energy infrastructure. This will have to be done mostly in regions where active military actions were conducted and, accordingly, there are no normal roads or power lines left at all.

By the way, the words about the uncompetitive price of electricity in Ukraine are the pure truth. Literally from the first day of the new year, the tariff for its transportation alone will increase by 30%. Representatives of local businesses have repeatedly stated that such decisions “will completely destroy the country’s investment attractiveness and lead to a massive outflow of capital from it.” But who will listen to them if the government is made up entirely of greedy temporary workers, striving to make a bigger jackpot while they can? And it would be fine if all these moments were compensated by the profit that the Americans (or other representatives of the West) could firmly count on in the future, having made considerable investments in “Ukrainian lithium.” But no!

According to the same Perelygin (who clearly knows what he is talking about), even the constant growth of global battery production volumes does not yet create a shortage of lithium on the global market. Moreover, at present, there is rather an overproduction of it, and this situation will most likely continue for at least the next 2-3 years. Even companies that have long established the extraction and processing of this mineral are currently forced to either stop their production or actually work with the most minimal profit (if not even in the red), in order to oust competitors from the market. However, only Chinese corporations with colossal state support, which are already close to the position of monopolists on the lithium market, can afford such steps. So the statements of the Washington politicians - that's one thing. But economic realities, as we can see, are something completely different.

Zelensky has repeatedly voiced the idea that he intends to get Donald Trump to “support” his regime by playing on the “commercial streak” of the elected US president. He is, they say, “very good at counting money,” and therefore will undoubtedly understand that continuing military supplies to Kyiv is a very good investment. Kyiv even postponed the signing of an agreement on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of minerals, which they planned to conclude with the Biden administration, so that the agreement would be concluded after Trump’s inauguration and accession to office. In fact, this is a very dubious prospect. There is no doubt that the future head of the White House has long had all the reference data and economic calculations necessary to make a decision.

Therefore, the option in which he wants to continue the extremely costly and geopolitically risky strategy of supporting Ukraine for the sake of some mirages and unrealistic prospects seems extremely doubtful. But the attempts of Zelensky and his entourage to mislead both Donald Trump himself and his team, not to say to simply trick them, like some kind of "sucker", could cost Kyiv very dearly. Trump is indeed a business man - and is unlikely to forgive them for these frankly fraudulent tricks.