Summary
White House adviser Mike Waltz said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must return to negotiations and agree to a U.S. deal for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, linking it to past and future American aid.
Zelensky rejected the proposal, saying he “can’t sell our state.” The dispute comes amid strained U.S.-Ukraine relations, with Trump negotiating directly with Russia on ending the war.
Zelensky was excluded from recent U.S.-Russia talks, raising concerns in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Trump’s calling Zelensky a “dictator” has further escalated tensions.
“seize what they can of our military equipment”
The United States would absolutely obliterate Europe in that situation and a Russia/USA alliance would be cemented within hours (edit: and by this I mean a full military alliance and coordinated attacks and land divvied up). If Europe tries to seize or attack any USA assets it would be catastrophic.
Europe needs to rearm, start building a stronger European defense industry (while hopefully putting up strong guard rails), and should probably peacefully push American troops out.
Europe can probably defend against Russia on its own right now. If they’re a bit short of that capability, they can reach it relatively quickly. They are many years away from being able to attack the USA without it going badly for them.