Quote:
Originally Posted by Pointman
USA, UK and Russia had a treaty with Ukraine about security guarantees in return for Ukraine surrendering its nuclear weapons. Russia has sure breached it, but my understanding is that USA and UK were supposed to help Ukraine more:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buda...ity_Assurances |
I'm not familiar - does that treaty pledge mutual-defense from the USA in the event the agreement is breached? I don't believe so.
A security guarantee and a mutual-defense alliance are different.
From your link - "The Budapest Memorandum was negotiated at political level, but it is not entirely clear whether the instrument is devoid entirely of legal provisions. It refers to assurances, but it does not impose a legal obligation of military assistance on its parties.[1][27] According to Stephen MacFarlane, a professor of international relations, "It gives signatories justification if they take action, but it does not force anyone to act in Ukraine."
This is nowhere near the level of commitment that NATO represents.