Since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, there have been thousands of casualties as well as targeted bombings of civilian structures such as the maternity hospital in Ukraine. As Russia continues to perform these atrocities, we, the United States of America, must honor our agreement in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and provide security assistance to Ukraine.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, there was an increase in nuclear-power states, as the previous Soviet states possessed stockpiles of nuclear weapons because of the Cold War. The third largest nuclear arsenal after the United States and Russia was Ukraine, possessing at least 1,900 nuclear warheads. This created potential security issues.
To incentivize Ukraine to let go of its nuclear weapons, the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine and two other former Soviet states, Belarus and Kazakhstan, entered the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. This memorandum included several assurances for Ukraine: receiving compensation for the diluting of enriched uranium which was used for Ukraine’s nuclear energy production, honoring the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states and providing security assurance once it has given up its nuclear weapons.
Russia has been violating these agreements since their annexation of Crimea. Yet the language in the Budapest Memorandum is purposefully ambiguous allowing us, the United States of America, to do whatever we want, which is often nothing. Although it was said that “were Russia to violate them, the United States would take a strong interest and respond,” America’s involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not simply an option, but rather a responsibility. It is time to start enforcing our assurances through sending armament assistance to Ukraine.
We need to honor our side of the agreement and provide security assistance to Ukraine. Other regimes like Putin’s are watching how we react to a full-scale invasion of a sovereign country. Failure to honor this agreement sets a precedent that other regimes could invade sovereign countries like Ukraine who are striving to live the Democratic values we stand for as the United States.
When we have a signed document stating security assurances, we need to live up to them and provide these assurances. It is time for Congress to react accordingly to the threat that the invasion of Ukraine represents. This isn’t just about defending democracy; it’s about standing up and fulfilling our commitments we renewed in 2009.
Nick Mitchell
Nick Mitchell is running for U.S. House of Representatives from Utah’s 2nd Congressional District. https://nickmitchellforcongress.com/
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