P O'C

On this day, 31 years ago, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum. Under this agreement, Ukraine relinquished the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances from the United States, the United Kingdom, and russia. Before the Memorandum was signed, renowned political scientist and international relations scholar John Mearsheimer warned that Ukraine should keep its nuclear weapons. He argued that this was the most effective way to prevent a future russian-Ukrainian war, describing such a war as a potential “catastrophe” that could lead to repeated conquest of Ukraine and “undermine peace across all of Europe.” Despite these warnings, Ukraine was pressured by the US into signing the Budapest Memorandum and dismantling its nuclear arsenal. As part of the agreement, Ukraine destroyed its fleet of long-range strategic bombers and transferred more than 1,000 cruise missiles. The United States even assisted in destroying Ukraine’s bomber fleet. In return, Ukraine received “security assurances” from the US, the UK, and russia. Russia, of course, has brutally violated these assurances along with dozens of other treaties. In fact, the same missiles Ukraine surrendered to russia are now being used against Ukrainian cities. And now, instead of honoring those commitments, the United States is pressuring Ukraine to surrender its own land to the aggressor — offering another set of “assurances” that will collapse the moment they are tested. Budapest was a historic mistake. Repeating it today would not bring peace — it would pave the road to the next, even bloodier war.