Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 19/11/2024; Author: Marko Vukajlovic
Germans may face early elections next year. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner and announced a vote of confidence in the government in early 2025 (archived: here).
Considering the current situation, the German media are talking about what can happen next. Two politicians and two journalists spoke in one ZDF talk show (archived: here). The host, Markus Lanz, touched on Ukraine, which he discussed with the representative of the Greens, Anton Hofreiter. Russian propaganda used a clip from the show and headlines like: (archived: here)
They finally admitted it! The West is fighting for Ukraine over lithium.
![](https://seecheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rude-1200x546-1-1024x466.jpg)
IN4S portal, as well as other (archived: here) pro-Russian media outlets, transmitted a clip in which the presenter Lanz has a short monologue, before switching to Hofreiter, in which he says:
“We are talking about the fact that Putin may take the Donbas to achieve peace, which we hope will come someday… But it also has economic implications. About 80% of Ukraine’s natural resources are located in Donbas. Putin will get them. There’s a lot of lithium… which we desperately need here in this country. And it is in our own interests not to stand aside. Or am I wrong?”
Hofreiter responds: “No, you are absolutely right. This is very much in our own economic interest. The Russian military is fighting to control one of the largest lithium deposits.”
According to a report by the World Economic Forum, Ukraine is one of the world’s leading countries in terms of reserves of rare earth metals, including lithium (archived: here). Media outlets, such as DW, wrote about Russia’s plunder of Ukraine’s natural resources last year. Among other things, the article noted that before Russia’s aggression, most of the iron ore extracted in the Dnieper region was exported to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Austria. However, this changed when Russia occupied the region and began transporting the ore to its own territory.
Some analysts suggest that Russia aims to capture Ukraine’s strategic resources while crippling its economy to portray the country as a “failed state” reliant on Russia. The DW article also highlighted the following: (archived: here)
“The European Union established a strategic resource partnership with Ukraine in July 2021, mere months before Russia invaded. The EU identified 30 natural resources needed for its green energy transformation — two-thirds of which could be sourced from Ukraine. Russia is also keen to gain control over these essential resources, especially as the danger of climate change grows ever more apparent.”
The question here, then, is: who really wants Ukrainian resources by force, and who wanted to establish strategic cooperation.
On the other hand, the “West”—Germany, in this case—has been aligned with Ukraine from the onset of Russia’s invasion. As a member of the European Union and NATO, Germany has supported Ukraine. The EU has consistently condemned Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions, adding: (archived: here)
“EU leaders have repeatedly demanded that Russia immediately cease its military actions, unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from Ukraine, and fully respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”
“NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine – which is an independent, peaceful and democratic country, and a close NATO partner. NATO and Allies continue to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defense.”
The “West” thus supports an independent country and its sovereignty and territorial integrity, that is, it is not fighting for Ukraine “for lithium,” as presented in the media, which misinterpreted a clip from a show in which a host and a politician are talking, and their dialogue was presented as the position of the entire Western civilization.
Because of all of the above, this post is rated as a manipulation of facts.
The “Manipulation of facts” rating is given to a media report that uses known and accurate facts but deceptively interprets them. These reports generally employ accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, leading media consumers to draw conclusions that differ from the actual meaning of the presented facts.