At the time of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, to solidify security commitments to Ukraine on Dec. 5, 1994, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.
The Budapest memorandum included security assurances against the threat or use of force against Ukraine’s territory or political independence. In 1994 the signing countries promised to respect the sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine. In response, Ukraine officially acceded to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state on Dec. 5, 1994.
Does anyone believe if Ukraine still held the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, in 2014 and again in 2022 Russia would have committed acts of war against Ukraine? Have the U.S. and the United Kingdom upheld their promises they made to Ukraine in 1994? Why should Ukraine trust the U.S. now after we have so thoroughly failed to honor the 1994 Budapest security agreement?
Craig Weir, Millcreek