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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   32221 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025

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There are many errors in the common retellings:

  • in 1990 Ukraine's declaration of sovereignty rejected nuclear weapons
  • in 1991 Ukraine signed away any rights to Soviet nuclear weapons
  • in 1992 Ukraine signed Start I pledging no proliferation etc.
  • Ukraine never had launch codes, command over the soldiers and equipment (the Russian and Ukrainian were still the same and working directly together under the CIS framework until perhaps 97) not that it had money to maintain it either

The Budapest Memorandum helped implement this, but contained no security guarantees just promises to vaguely help or not to attack.

I would argue that a security guarantee (e.g. NATO article 5) is also just a promise.

You are correct that the signatories are under no obligation to help Ukraine against an attacker (merely to call the Security Council if nukes are involved -- and a lot of good that would do). As you say, Russia rather explicitly promised not to attack Ukraine though:

  1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

I'd also just add that the Budapest Memorandum was legally non-binding as per the US State Department.

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