Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 26, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba winnipeg.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/donate/ Donate BE THE ONE WHO MAKES A DIFFERENCE. BigWinnipeg.com U KRAINE has agreed with the U.S. on a deal to jointly develop its nat- ural resources, people familiar with the matter said, a move that could ease recent tension with U.S. President Donald Trump and advance his admin- istration’s goal of a ceasefire with Rus- sia. Ukraine’s cabinet is expected to rec- ommend today that the deal be signed, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to travel to the U.S. Friday to seal the agreement, the people said. “I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Certainly it’s OK with me, if you’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal.” Trump has pressured Zelenskyy to accept the deal, first presented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv earlier this month. But the Ukrainian president rejected earlier versions, saying the U.S. was demand- ing too much from his country. The deal came together after the U.S. dropped the demand for Kyiv to com- mit to paying US$500 billion from re- source extraction to a fund as a form of repayment for U.S. aid, one person said. The framework agreement would create a joint U.S.-Ukraine fund to manage future revenues from the country’s natural resources, according to the person. The latest version of the deal still doesn’t spell out specific security guar- antees, the people said, though Ukraine sees it as a starting point toward that possibility. Those have been a key priority for Ukraine, whose leaders have been alarmed by Trump’s repeat- ed broadsides against Zelenskyy and U.S. officials’ argument that he shares the blame for the invasion. U.S. officials have said that binding Ukraine to the U.S. through econom- ic ties would provided a de facto sec- urity shield. A detailed agreement is expected to be worked out later. The Financial Times reported the accord earlier Tuesday. “The substance here seems to be less than meets the eye, and it appears to be, by contrast, intensely political,” said Justin Logan, director of defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato insti- tute. He said the deal allows Trump to “market a political win” at home while Zelenskyy can ease recent strains with the U.S. The deal may also offer Trump a way to encourage buy-in from his supporters for continued backing for Ukraine, par- ticularly if Washington needs Congress to approve additional aid for Ukraine if negotiations with Russia continue to drag on. Ukraine still relies on U.S. and European allies for weapons and am- munition. Both sides have been locked for days in intense negotiations over the agreement that the U.S. administration sees as integral to its plan to broker a ceasefire in Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine. Trump’s decision to send top aides to negotiate first with Russia produced tensions in the relationship, which boiled over after the U.S. presi- dent called Zelenskyy a “dictator.” Ukraine wants to invest in the new fund together with the U.S. on a 50-50 basis, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday. The fund would in- clude future income from state enter- prises, as well as from the extraction of raw materials, he added. Trump has said he wanted the equiva- lent of US$500 billion from rare earths, which are mainly used in high-strength magnets. But despite reports of US$10 trillion in mineral deposits, Ukraine has no major rare-earth reserves that are internationally recognized as eco- nomically viable. Ukraine does have some commercial mines of critical minerals such as titan- ium and gallium which, while import- ant, aren’t likely to be worth the sums Trump envisages. Even if Ukraine does have any eco- nomically viable deposits, the West still has a bigger challenge to overcome. Most countries are forced to send the rare earths they mine to be refined in China as it dominates the processing of these materials. — Bloomberg News TOP NEWS A3 WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM U.S.-Ukraine pact could pave way to peace Zelenskyy to sign deal for rare earth minerals Friday DARYNA KRASNOLUTSKA AND NATALIA DROZDIAK MARTIN MEISSNER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Support for Ukraine remains strong in Europe, as shown by a carnival float designed for the Rose Monday Parade in Cologne, Germany, depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin on the head with a ‘make love not war’ hammer. JABIN BOTSFORD / THE WASHINGTON POST French President Emmanuel Macron fact-checked U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Of- fice on Monday, correcting Trump’s false assertion about Europe’s aid to Ukraine being a loan. Railway sues Maple Leaf Foods over train derailment CANADIAN Pacific Railway is suing Maple Leaf Foods and one of its semi- truck drivers, alleging he caused a train derailment when he blew through a highway crossing south of Winnipeg while hauling livestock two years ago. Winnipeg lawyers Ari Hanson and Alexa Smith filed a statement of claim in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on behalf of the railway last week, seek- ing a judgment of more than $300,000, interest and court costs. Maple Leaf Foods and the driver, who lives in or around Grunthal, have yet to file statements of defence and the mat- ter hasn’t been heard in court. The court filing says Maple Leaf and the driver owed members of the pub- lic — including the railway — a duty of care to ensure that the semi was driven carefully and prudently, without caus- ing damage to trains, railway infra- structure and public roads. The collision and subsequent derail- ment occurred at about 11:48 a.m. on Feb. 20, 2023. The train was proceeding north toward a crossing on Highway 23 near Dufrost as the driver was heading east on the highway travelling at least 100 km/h, the filing says. The crossing’s warning system of signage, flashing lights and bells (but no crossing arms) were going off indi- cating a train was about to cross, the railway said. The locomotive engin- eer blew the train’s whistle as he ap- proached. The driver did not stop, the court fil- ings say, and drove the truck into the path of the train, resulting in the right- hand passenger side of the semi-trailer being struck. Media reports from the time indicate the truck was hauling pigs. No injuries were reported to train crew staff and the truck driver suffered minor injur- ies. It’s unclear if any of the livestock were injured. The court filing indicates the driver was ticketed for proceeding across a railway crossing while unsafe under the Highway Traffic Act the day after the collision. The collision damaged the locomotive engine, which derailed from the track, and damaged a section of the track near the crossing, the court filing says. CP alleges its costs to lift the derailed train back on the tracks, repairs to the locomotive engine and track, as well as environmental remediation, amounted to $307,363.05. “The defendants have refused to pay despite demand,” the court filing al- leges. The railway also said the derailment caused three additional trains to be de- layed, resulting in additional losses and damages. The railway alleges its damages were caused by the driver’s negligent, reck- less or, alternatively, intentionally dan- gerous operation of the semi, for which he is liable and Maple Leaf is vicarious- ly liable. The railway, referred to in the legal filings as Canadian Pacific, recently changed its name to Canadian Pacif- ic Kansas City after a merger with an American railway in 2023. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca ERIK PINDERA ;