‘…an attempt to invest into alternative suppliers…can be understood as an effort to diversify supply chains amid rising competition between Washington and Beijing. The United State’s quest to secure its supply of critical minerals is especially timely given the fact that a couple of months ago, in December 2024 China imposed restrictions on the export of several minerals and metals to the US.’
Washington and Kyiv have finally come to an agreement on the joint extraction of critical resources, including rare earth minerals from Ukraine’s reserves. While the exact terms of the deal remain unknown, it could represent a significant step towards reducing American dependence on Chinese imports of the most essential resources of the future.
‘As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, the world faces an entirely new reality. A reality where Russia and Putin are no longer portrayed as the greatest evil. A reality where diplomacy is once again regarded as the primary tool for resolving disputes between nations. A reality where the end of the conflict could be within arm’s reach. And a reality where, unfortunately, Ukraine and Europe appear increasingly irrelevant.’
‘According to the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the year of the snake, which symbolizes change and transformation. It thus may not be a coincidence that Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to bring about drastic changes in Washington, commenced his second term as President of the United States in this epochal year.’
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated in a radio interview on public Kossuth Radio that his government’s budget strategy depended on the outcome of the US presidential election. He criticized foreign influence in European politics and reaffirmed Hungary’s commitment to economic stability and national sovereignty.
‘It’s the reality, and someone had to say it,’ remarked Sumantra Maitra, who was among the audience during US Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Munich, in an interview with Hungarian Conservative. The leading analyst of NATO strategy discussed the future prospects of the US–EU partnership within NATO, with a particular focus on the strategic importance of Greenland.
‘As of now most critical minerals originate from China, which controls about one third of the world’s total rare earth metal reserves. The attempt to invest into the Ukrainian mine industry is widely seen as an effort to diversify supply chains amid rising competition between Washington and Beijing.’
The United States and Russia held the first round of Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia, after which both sides agreed to work on improving relations and advancing toward a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the discussions, stating that the parties had not only listened but truly heard each other.
‘Pro-war, anti-Trump, and frustrated European leaders are coming together with the clear intention of obstructing a peace agreement,’ Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed on Monday. He was referring to the emergency summit hosted by Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where the most influential European countries are gathering to respond to US-led peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
‘The criminality in all this is that Zelenskyy and the U.S.-led West know that the Ukrainians are not going to win on the battlefield, and that Ukraine has effectively become an economic and politically dysfunctional rump state. Yet both want the war to continue, whether for lucrative reasons or not.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
