The world is watching for the peace negotiations promised by you. The world is more concerned about the 1.2 to 1.5 million lost or destroyed Ukrainian lives, and the unknown number of Russian lives, than they are about the $300 B the US has given Ukraine.

Before you put too much hope in getting equivalent wealth back from Ukraine in a commercialized peace deal, remember that most of Ukraine's rare earth resources, about $7.8 trillion dollars worth, sits in the region of eastern Ukraine that is populated with Russians. The Russians already control it.

The remaining wealth of Ukraine is largely agricultural. That is in the west, on land controlled or owned by Cargill, Dupont, and Monsanto.

Prior to any meeting with President Putin, it might be helpful for Gen. Kellogg and your diplomatic staff to study the Austrian State Treaty of1955.

On May 15, 1955, representatives of the governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the United States, and France signed a treaty that granted Austria independence and arranged for the withdrawal of all Soviet occupation forces. These governments signed the agreement with the understanding that the newly independent state of Austria would declare its neutrality, creating a buffer zone between the East and the West. The Austrian State Treaty was the only treaty signed by both the Soviet Union and United States in the decade after the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties, and it marked the only Cold War era withdrawal by the Soviet Union from a territory it occupied. The treaty was honored by the Soviets. Their troops were withdrawn rapidly and efficiently.