Among the bombshells coming out of the Trump administration in its first month in office is the president’s demand that Ukraine pledge $500 billion worth of mineral resources to the United States in return for American support. U.S. President Donald Trump appears to see this as payback for vastly exaggerated sums of American military and financial assistance provided to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago. As always, the devil is in the details when assessing how such a d

Editor's note: The opinions expressed in our op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. On Dec. 3, the European Union finally revealed its much-anticipated price cap on Russian oil. The concept was introduced by G7 leaders on June 28 at the urging of the U.S. after their summit in Germany. Unfortunately, the announced cap of $60 per barrel is hugely anticlimactic as Russia recently sold its oil at a price of below $50. Even though th

Editor's note: This piece is adapted from Edward C. Chow's remarks at the International Expert Conference for the Recovery, Reconstruction, and Modernization of Ukraine in Berlin on Oct. 25, 2022, during the session on "Industrial Policy and Sustainable Development." The opinions expressed in our op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. For more than 20 years, I have closely observed Ukraine's energy scene. If anyone questioned the