It has been three years since Russia launched its attack as Ukraine began preparations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). During this period, it is seen that Ukraine will lose half of the minerals in its country, apart from getting NATO membership.

After Russia launched an attack, the then US President Joe Biden, who helped Ukraine unconditionally, was out of power, and Ukraine has been in more trouble. Trump, who has been in charge of the US President since January 20, has already said that "Ukraine does not need to join NATO". After a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said that if there is an agreement with Russia, Ukraine will not get NATO membership and will not get back all the territories it lost during the war. Similarly, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also denied that Ukraine will join NATO and take back all the territories lost during the war.

The response of Trump and Hegseth has angered not only the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but also the leaders of the countries belonging to the European Union. Ukrainian President Zelensky has said that he will not accept any agreement without the involvement of his country. The US and Russia held talks in Saudi Arabia last week on the initiative of the Trump administration to end the war. In the talks led by the foreign ministers of both countries, it was agreed that the high-level team would hold talks to end the war. The

talks were attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President's Foreign Policy Adviser Yuri Usakov, and by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, the host of Saudi Arabia, and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and National Security Adviser Musaid bin Mohammed Al-Aiwan participated in the talks.

However, Zelensky and the European leaders became angry saying that they were not invited to the talks. They say that any negotiations without the participation of Ukraine or Europe will be invalid. France, Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and Denmark are seen in favor of Zelensky. Since assuming the office of president, Trump has not only cut aid to Ukraine, but has demanded half of the minerals for the aid provided by the US in the past.

Since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has received foreign aid equal to 4 trillion 7 billion US dollars. 47 percent of this grant was provided by the US. Similarly, Britain and Germany contributed 8/8 percent, Japan 5, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands 4/4, France and Sweden 3/3, Poland and Norway 2/2 percent and other countries contributed the remaining 10 percent. The Trump administration has said that Ukraine should own half of its mineral resources in exchange for its help in fighting against Russia. Finance Minister Scott Besant has set the condition that half of the minerals will be given for the current support and its continuation in the meeting with the Ukrainian President Zelensky. But Zelensky has said that the condition is unacceptable.

Dysprosium, neodymium and cerium, a rare mineral called 'rare earth', are a group of 17 types of heavy metals demanded by America. According to experts, these rare minerals are essential in electronics, military equipment and technology.

According to a study conducted by the American Geological Survey in 2024, there are about 110 million tons of rare mineral reserves worldwide. 44 million tons are in China, which is the world's largest producer. Similarly, 22 million tons are in Brazil, 21 million tons in Vietnam, 10 million tons in Russia and 7 million tons in India.

Since Zelensky rejected the proposal, it is assumed that Trump started the initiative to stop the military and financial aid and end the war. On top of that, with the return of Trump, Zelensky has come under more pressure as Putin has become closer to the American administration. Because of his relationship with Trump, Putin has also said that he is ready to negotiate with Zelensky. But Russia says that there will be no agreement on Ukraine's participation in security, defense or military alliances.

Earlier, American President Trump said that Zelensky was a "dictator" and that the war started because of him. Similarly, he has said that he has the power to end the Russia-Ukraine war and that there is no place for Ukraine in the negotiations. After Trump became angry, the Zelensky Trump administration has been flexible lately. Zelensky has called for help, saying that "the power of the United States" is needed to achieve peace in Ukraine.

When Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the two countries went to war. During the three-year-long war, both countries suffered heavy losses. During this period, Russia has taken control of about 20 percent of the territory. Ukraine has also been attacking Russian ships, military vehicles and some cities with drones.

At least 40,000 Ukrainians have died due to the Russian attack. 68 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave the country, while 40 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced. Aid organizations have reported that 14.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

According to the data analyzed by the BBC, at least 95,000 people have died fighting for the Russian army. It has citizens of various countries from the North Korean army. This figure does not include the 21,000 to 23,000 fighters killed in the self-proclaimed Donbas Republic, according to the BBC. BBC Russia, the independent media group Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, the BBC said. It is estimated that 146,194 to 211,169 Russian soldiers died during the war.

In December last year, Ukraine announced that 42,000 soldiers had lost their lives in the war with Russia. But Western analysts have said that this figure is much lower than expected. According to the website "Ukraine Losses", which collects data from open sources, at least 70,400 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives in the war.

On the eve of the third anniversary of the war, Russia launched a terrible attack on 13 regions of Ukraine on Saturday. Russia carried out 267 drone attacks on Saturday night alone. The spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, said that this attack was the largest attack carried out in one day since the start of the attack. According to him, 138 drones were neutralized by the Ukrainian air defense system. Ignat said that 119 drones did not cause any damage, three went to Belarus and one went to Russia.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia has attacked Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Mykolaiv, Odessa and Dnipro along with the capital Kyiv. At least two people were killed and 6 people were injured in the Russian attack. One person died in the Dnipro region due to the Russian attack. They say that many buildings and vehicles have been damaged. Similarly, a woman died in the industrial city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Three people were injured in the incident. 7 apartments and 14 other buildings were damaged in the attack.

Three people were injured when a private house caught fire due to a drone attack in Odesa region. Likewise, a woman was injured in an attack in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia. Dozens of residential houses have been damaged. Dozens of residential houses and vehicles have been damaged by drone attacks in the capital city of Kiev. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the air defense unit destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones that were shot down in 6 regions of the country on Saturday night.