Well played from their side, as that's how this game works.

And for those who didn't get it before, Marco Rubio even went out and publicly said Ukraine should sell rare earth rights to the US so that they have something there to defend to justify to the public providing a security guarantee for Ukraine. He basically spelled it out in layman's terms how the game is played. You can dislike it, you can disagree with it, but this is how it always worked, even if the general public was not aware of it. It's nothing to do with defending freedom, democracy, honor, values, whatever, it's all about preserving and making money.