Paul
Goble
Staunton, December 5 – The actions
of three signatories of the Budapest Memorandum, Russia by invading Ukraine and
the US and UK by failing to come to its defense, means that Ukraine has no
choice by to develop a modern army with contemporary weapons if it is to
survive, according to Aleksandr Turchinov.
The secretary of
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council makes that argument on the 21st
anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum by which Ukraine gave up
the nuclear weapons on its territory in exchange for a commitment by Russia,
the US and the UK to guarantee its territorial integrity (gordonua.com/news/war/Turchinov-Nevypolnenie-Budapeshtskogo-memoranduma-dokazalo-nelepost-razoruzheniya-109460.html and rnbo.gov.ua/news/2327.html).
The
failure of the three countries to meet their commitments, Turchinov says, has
changed the paradigm of international relations and thrown the world back in a
medieval one in which force not law is the governing principle. This creates “a potential threat” not only
for Ukraine but “for the entire world.”
When
Ukraine signed the Bucharest Memorandum along with the three other countries, “the
political leadership of Ukraine at that time believed in the effectiveness of international
guarantees but after 20 years it turns out that the guarantees were empty and
did not have any foundation, even though they were signed by senior officials”
from the four.
Ukraine
had taken from it “not only nuclear weapons but all launch vehicles which could
carry not only nuclear shells ... [It] lost its strategic bombers and cruise
missiles which, by the way, Russia is now using in the Syrian war.” Moreover,
Turchinov says, “Kremlin puppets” in Kyiv used this in their campaign “to
destroy the Ukrainian army.”
When
Russia violated its undertakings in the Budapest Memorandum by invading Ukraine
and illegally annexing Crimea, the security official says, he “turned to our
strategic partners for help in the context of their obligations according to
the Memorandum.” But that did not lead
to anything.
“We
were politely told,” Turchinov continues, “that the Budapest Memorandum is a
formal document but it does not put forward real mechanisms for ensuring the
guarantees it offers. That is … they really disarmed Ukraine, but the
guarantees turned out to be ‘conditional.’”
The
US and UK “sympathized” with Ukraine and “supported it politically and
economically,” he says, “but it became clear that no one will defend Ukraine
and that Ukraine must count only on its own forces.” The two Western
governments were not even willing to provide Kyiv with lethal arms at the time
of the initial Russian attack.
“The
non-fulfillment of the Budapest Memorandum showed the absurdity of disarmament,”
he says. “Arms have again become the chief argument in international relations,”
and that means that everyone who wants peace for their own country must prepare
for war to defend it.
Ukraine
has drawn that conclusion, he says, after paying “an extraordinarily high
price.” Indeed, “we have recognized that the guarantee of our independence and
freedom is precisely a powerful army and contemporary weapons. To restore our
military and economic potential is the only path for restoring the territorial
integrity and democratic development of Ukraine.”
And
Ukrainians have also recognized, he continues, that in this sector, “we will be
the only ones who can help us.”
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