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SmokeyUnicycle t1_iwgpem8 wrote

Reply to comment by GKanjus in Navy, Coast Guard stop ship with 180 tons of Iranian explosive materials by millennium-wisdom

We didn't actually agree to protect them we just said we wouldn't attack them.

Russia did too lol

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Moccus t1_iwhpi1m wrote

Sucks that you're getting downvoted. You're completely correct.

The Budapest Memorandum isn't a very long agreement, either, so anybody here should have time to read it.

This is what the US, the UK, and Russia agreed to in the Budapest Memorandum:

  1. Respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and existing borders.
  2. Refrain from using force or threatening to use force against Ukraine except in self-defense or with the approval of the UN.
  3. Refrain from using economic coercion to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty.
  4. Seek assistance from the UN Security Council on Ukraine's behalf if anybody uses nukes or threatens to use nukes against Ukraine.
  5. Don't use nukes against Ukraine except in self-defense.

Nowhere is there any agreement to protect Ukraine, especially if they're only attacked in a conventional war. If they're attacked with nukes by Russia, then the US and the UK are supposed to go to the UN Security Council to ask for help, where Russia will promptly veto any proposed action, but that's the end of our obligations under the Budapest Memorandum.

Source: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%203007/Part/volume-3007-I-52241.pdf

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GKanjus t1_iwj47kq wrote

“1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine”

I could dive deeper into the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, which is applicable here to prove you even further wrong, but instead I’ll just use the FULL wording of the first addendum, not just what you cherry picked to help your argument.

All in All we are in fact under the obligation to help Ukraine

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