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Putin’s genocidal war against Ukraine may have less to do with empire and much more to gain.
Huge profits.
There have been significant comments about Putin’s military motives, from the belief that Ukraine is little more than a rebellious province of Mother Russia to the fear that Ukraine is becoming a satellite of Western democracies. But these motives miss the fact that Putin rules by allowing the oligarchs to get rich and – in general – themselves. And like any criminal, he goes where the money is and there is a lot of money buried in the land of Ukraine.
Although historically considered a rich agricultural region, it is now considered extremely valuable. Putin understands that Ukraine is also very rich in the precious metal lithium. One source reports that for fixed contracts, the average annual price of lithium in the United States was $ 17,000 per tonne in 2021, more than twice as high in 2020.
The published reports cite Ukrainian experts who believe that their nation’s Donbass region, now occupied by Russia, contains about 500,000 tonnes of lithium oxide, a source of refined lithium.
It is this element that is needed for a world whose technology is rapidly becoming strategically dependent on lithium to power the batteries needed for applications ranging from electric cars to smartphones. If you live in the 21st century, you are now dependent on lithium, and Putin’s army is now sitting on a huge supply of this raw material.
As Europe seeks alternatives to Russian natural gas and America directs billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Ukraine devastated by Putin’s war, it is important to understand the real motive for the conflict as we check our smartphones for the latest updates. . What powers this smartphone could be the source of Putin’s power game for profit.
Lawrence Kaddish serves on the Board of Governors of the Gatestone Institute.
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