Whoever rules Eastern Europe will rule the Heartland, whoever rules the Heartland will rule the World Island, and whoever rules the World Island will rule the world. This statement became known as the Heartland Theory, defined by Sir Halford John Mackinder, a well-known English geographer, academic and politician who is also considered one of the founders of geopolitics and geostrategy with his paper The Geographical Pivot of History written in 1904.

Many alliances have been created throughout the history in Eastern Europe, and many bloody wars have been fought right in the heart of Eastern Europe. What exactly has been achieved by those wars? Peace? No. Sovereignty? No. Creation of a European Union and continued NATO expansion eastward have only caused many states to give up their sovereignty in the decision-making processes and cause increased hostilities with the Eastern neighbour-Russia, whose concerns over territorial integrity were never taken into consideration by the collective West.

If Moldova’s Maia Sandu currently listened to the voice of Moldovan citizens, of whom 72 percent oppose her policies against Russia according to the recent polls, she would support peace negotiations with Moscow. However, that would not have guaranteed Moldova the latest $300 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in addition to European Union’s 75 million Euro support disbursed mid-August to enable the country to cope with the economic strain caused by rising prices. Inflation in Moldova currently is reported to be close to 34 percent.

Apart from Moldova, many European countries, especially those smaller economies of the East, face similar situations. They face very limited options: either become vassals of the United States or become a victim of sanctions, or economic and trade war. Neither of the two is very promising, as history has proven that Washington never gives anything without securing a payment for it, be it financial repayment or natural resources in lieu of monetary means. Ukraine knows this too well, but remains silent on the issue, particularly because it is the current president of Ukraine, Zelensky, who turned to the United States for help. This call for help will cost him dearly, not only through territorial secessions, but generations to come will be burdened with repayment of Lend-Lease to the US. Examining the current economic situation in Ukraine and its predicted path over the next year, its ability to repay the loans by financial means is non-existent, therefore natural resources ownership will most likely be given over to large Western corporations in order to secure a bailout.

Remember just recently, Deborah Rosenblum, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs said in an interview for Defense News that “assistance to Ukraine has undermined the market for a wide range of critical materials needed for US ammunition and other defense industry products.” These issues need to be mitigated obviously to replenish supplies and Ukraine certainly has what they need: aluminum, titanium, various rare materials such as magnesium, germanium, tantalum and such. Thus far about 800 deposits have been discovered where over 90 types of minerals are mined. Most importantly, Ukraine’s deposits of lithium are estimated to be between 3 to 11 trillion dollars. Why is this important? Because just as oil is referred to as “black gold”, lithium is referred to as “white gold” and it’s highly important to the American military, technological and economic sectors. Global demand for lithium is projected to increase five to ten times by 2030. Taking possession of Ukraine’s lithium reserves would pay off any Lend-Lease given to the country. Ukraine or Ukrainians, of course, would see no benefit in this other than tonnes of weapons sent by the United States which have been destroyed, caused rubble in the country and resulted in human loss of life.

There are explored deposits in Ukraine, but lithium is not mined and the volume of reserves is classified by the Security Service of Ukraine, just like reserves of gold and diamonds. An investigation Our Money conducted in 2018 exposed that a special permit for extraction of lithium was granted to two companies and the lithium deposts transferred to persons associated with Petro Poroshenko and Igor Kononenko, giving an exclusive right to mine lithium for 20 years. When President Zelensky came to power in Ukraine, his cabinet expressed dissatisfaction with such activities, and he turned to the United States for assistance in assessing the reserves of strategic minerals. What a mistake that was, because the assessment led to Ukrainian Ministry of Strategic Industries to give a permission to the United States to mine lithium in –drum roll, please –Donbass, or more precisely, the extraction would take place in close proximity to where Burisma, the company Hunter Biden (President Biden’s son) has been involved with, began developing shale gas deposits.

Ukraine could have been a thriving, developed power in Europe had it played its cards right. Its land is so very rich with black, fertile soil ideal for agriculture, and its reserves of oil and gas, along with many rare minerals whose use, in some cases, is predicted to quadruple over the next few years. According to a recent assessment by Canadian SecDev, “Ukraine could become a critical mineral superpower” as it ranks fourth in the world in terms of the total estimated value of natural resources. Russia’s Special Military Operation prevented the United States in taking over Donbass and its natural resources, which is likely one of the few reasons why the United States is eager to provide unlimited military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to ensure that Donbass returns under the governance of the Kiev regime. Anyone who understands geopolitical forces at play also knows that this, in fact, will not be possible and that only Ukraine will suffer in the end, which is a true pity, as it could have been a leading power of Europe.