From: Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (1104th day)
Why should America help Ukraine?
There are many ways to answer that question. Some answers appeal to the moral side, some other – address the practical side (what’s in it for you, Americans). I will deal with those in another post. Today I want to remind you about a legal agreement called Budapest Memorandum. The current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, will help me explain in simple terms what that Memorandum meant. Of course, when Rubio was speaking in this video he didn’t give up his ……. (put your own word) yet and was free to speak the truth.
A friend Kateryna Ovcharenko wrote about this just yesterday:
“If you have ever heard anything about “Budapest Memorandum” of 1994, it’s the key to answering the question “Why should America help Ukraine to begin with?”. It’s a tiny document, read the whole text.
https://treaties.un.org/…/Part/volume-3007-I-52241.pdf
To summarize it, the memorandum is signed between Ukraine, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America, where Ukraine (being 3rd nuclear country in the world at that time) was giving up all nuclear weapon (+ a whole load of other military stuff) in exchange for security. More about Ukrainian nuclear status here:
https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AF%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%B7%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%8F_%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B8?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR23QtDvLrUxrST78RvmNbuWeXyTKluEJ5tGoWxEUr8f0SkYBvFyexdS20M_aem_F6U72ld83acixPnh4kwgrw
Back in 2014, one of the parties (terroRussia) violated the memorandum by occupying Crimea and parts of 2 more regions in Ukraine. In 2022 they started full-scale invasion. Well, we always kind of knew russia will not be able to keep their promise of that Budapest Memorandum (trust me, they have been trying to destroy us for the last 400 years, why stop now).
All these years, since 2014, Ukraine has been given enough military support to stay alive, but not enough to win. So US helping Ukraine is normal. It’s not out of pity, it’s not out of great kindness, it’s KEEPING THE PROMISE, sticking to your word!
Now, this mineral “deal” pops up, “generously” suggested by President Trump. And we find the answer to that in the text of Budapest Memorandum. The countries commit “to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.”
One last thing, since Trump wants to bill Ukraine triple for free aid that Biden’s administration gave Ukraine over 3 years of war, let’s estimate how much Ukraine gave up not just in terms of security of our country but in financial terms when we agreed to sign the Budapest Memorandum:
176 ballistic missiles with 6-10 warheads each that were located in Ukraine that were aimed at two targets: New York and Washington. It is worth looking at the entire cost of the facilities.
Ukraine handed over combat uranium and plutonium in net weight for 770 billion dollars.
In products (warheads) it is almost 1.1 trillion dollars. Tactical plutonium charges from 5 kilotons to 150 kilotons, no one even counted. Nuclear weapon carriers R-36M (product 100) and Tu22, Tu-160 from 800 million to a billion in dollars, were given to ruzzia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
Maybe we can add up all that and subtract whatever number Trump wants to assign to the military aid that Biden provided. How much do Ukrainians still owe?
Most importantly, will our security guarantors deliver on their promise? Ruzzia most obviously broke the agreement (it always does!), but do others keep it?
Maybe National security adviser Mike Waltz expressed sentiments not only about Zelensky but about past agreements between Ukraine and the USA when he said “It’s like, you know, ex-girlfriend that wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.”
Let’s move forward, sign a new deal and not even include security guarantees!
Voice of Ukraine 