I don't believe Lindsay was referring to Ukraine though - he was (IMHO) was referring to Russia. He was projecting on the benefit of a breakup of Russia should Ukraine win.
In any case, since independence, Ukraine have had all sorts of international companies looking for resources and minerals; shale gas, oil, etc etc etc. And they found None with economic value.
In reality, Ukraine since independence have relied on either Russia or EU/US for handouts.
They ran deficit after deficit, year after year.
Its why Yanukovych was trying to extract the best deals from both Russia and the EU. Despite what Maidan supporters believed, he wasn't trying to cancel the economic association with the EU, he was simply trying to get a better deal. He saw deals with both sides (EU and Russia) as beneficial to his country, but Maidan thought otherwise.
And if you go back a few years before this current war, you will see Zel asking Merkel for more money ($20B) and other financial support from the EU, as compensation for Ukraine pipelines being phased out, due to the the NS 2 coming online. Of course, with the destruction of both NS1 and NS2, it returns the Ukrainian monopoly on charging transit fees.
In reality, there is really very little of value in Ukraine, other than some of the black soil which Russia has an abundance of.
Ukraine as a country, have always relied on handouts.
