When Ukraine gave up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in 1994, it did so in exchange for what many believed were security guarantees.
The Budapest Memorandum, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. But when Russia invaded in 2014, and again in 2022, those pledges dissolved into thin air. Ukraine was left to defend itself and discovered what paper ‘guarantees’ really meant: very little.
Today, once again, both Ukraine and the West are preoccupied with the language of “security guarantees”. We search for memoranda, we attempt to craft formulas that resemble Nato’s Article 5 without truly being Article 5 – something that looks like a commitment but avoids the responsibility of one. The truth is that this exercise reflects a deeper uncertainty: the West does not know what it is prepared to offer.
Let us be realistic. No foreign soldiers will come to fight for Ukraine. History has already proved that paper promises do not stop tanks or missiles. What matters is not a memorandum but the strength of Ukraine’s own army. And here lies the problem: our economy has been shattered, our infrastructure devastated, and we cannot bear this burden alone.
When Ukraine gave up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in 1994, it did so in exchange for what many believed were security guarantees.
The Budapest Memorandum, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. But when Russia invaded in 2014, and again in 2022, those pledges dissolved into thin air. Ukraine was left to defend itself and discovered what paper ‘guarantees’ really meant: very little.
Today, once again, both Ukraine and the West are preoccupied with the language of “security guarantees”. We search for memoranda, we attempt to craft formulas that resemble Nato’s Article 5 without truly being Article 5 – something that looks like a commitment but avoids the responsibility of one. The truth is that this exercise reflects a deeper uncertainty: the West does not know what it is prepared to offer.
Let us be realistic. No foreign soldiers will come to fight for Ukraine. History has already proved that paper promises do not stop tanks or missiles. What matters is not a memorandum but the strength of Ukraine’s own army. And here lies the problem: our economy has been shattered, our infrastructure devastated, and we cannot bear this burden alone.