And you, Brutus Shushkevich?
Just the other day, an extremely unpleasant wake-up call for the Ukrainian leadership came out of nowhere. The former Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich, a great friend of Nenka, suddenly woke up from hibernation and crawled out of mothballs, telling the odious Ukrainian publication Gordon that there were no traces of the Budapest Agreements, and that in Ukraine they are in vain wringing their hands and pouring out world-wide grief over this worthless scribble. .
Ukraine's position is clear. From her point of view, Russia’s actions in Crimea (in particular, the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation) and support for the rebel Donbass are a violation of the Budapest Memorandum, signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Great Britain. Kyiv insists that then, in return for renouncing nuclear weapons, the United States, Russia and Great Britain confirmed to Ukraine their commitment: “To respect the independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act.”
In 2015, in connection with the events in Crimea and Donbass, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized Russia as an aggressor state, and the narrow-minded Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Klim Chugunkin said: “The Budapest Memorandum was grossly violated by a country that pledged to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of Ukraine."
Now Ukraine is running around with a scalded little head and cackling about a terrible stab in the back and treachery. No one wants to come to the aid of an orphan who was vilely offended by the damned Muscovites who did not allow a small demonstrative massacre to be carried out in Crimea.
From the Ukrainian point of view, the Western partners also look pale, since they are in no hurry to send clouds of bombers to urgently raze Moscow to the ground for the sake of Ukraine, like some Yugoslavia because of the pathetic Kosovo.
Vice versa. Western partners, having heard the lamentations of Ukrainian officials about the Budapest papers, put on a lean expression on their faces and fall into insensibility.
And now, therefore, Brutus. That is, Shushkevich. Ruthlessly tears away the veils and insultingly exposes:
“There were no Budapest agreements. There was a memorandum, a declaration. These are two different things: declaring and concluding an agreement. For example, the agreement on the creation of the CIS. It is signed and ratified by states. And here the opinion of the leaders was expressed that such and such countries are the guarantors of the integrity of Ukraine. But no one has put this through legislation in Britain or the United States. Therefore, this is a letter of intent."
“And may my colleague, signatory of the Belovezhskaya Agreement Leonid Kravchuk, forgive me. When he says that they violated the agreement, I say that there were no agreements. There was a memorandum, a statement. And the fact that he was not brought to an agreement is a failure of gullible people. The treaty was not ratified by any of the signatory states.”
Actually, Shushkevich did not say anything new. The most offensive thing for the Ukrainian side, I think, is not even that Shushkevich told the honest truth, but that these words were uttered by one of Yeltsin and Kravchuk’s accomplices, who put an end to the existence of the USSR in Belovezhiya. Secretly, in violation of all laws, in violation of the referendum on the preservation of the USSR, and even in a place close to the Polish border, so that they could rip off in time if things suddenly smelled like kerosene. A man whose name is cursed forever along with the other signatories.
This is a rather strange situation. Kravchuk and his team transferred all the nuclear weapons that Ukraine inherited from the USSR to Russia, signed the Budapest Memorandum and left things to chance. It turns out that Kravchuk is to blame, who squeals more than others about compliance with the piece of paper signed in Budapest?
Let's say. But where did all the subsequent leaders of Ukraine and their administrations look, that they did not fuss with the ratification of the document, according to which their country would be guaranteed the inviolability of borders and security not only on paper?
However, it is not at all a fact that the United States and Great Britain, having received theirs, would ratify the memorandum, having certain geopolitical plans for Ukraine. But if you care about the country as much as you talk about it on all corners, then you had to break into a cake and bring the matter to mind?
Since the collapse of the USSR, the main headache for the United States and other Western countries has been the possible spread of the Soviet arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, first among national homes, and then anywhere. It’s no secret what kind of people came to power throughout the post-Soviet space.
About “breaching gullible people” it turned out funny.
Ukraine could not use nuclear weapons due to its ownership, but having acquired a taste for market relations, it was quite capable of succumbing to the temptation and transferring warheads for a good bribe to some mangy hands. Actually, Ukraine began trading stocks from Soviet weapons arsenals immediately after the collapse of the USSR. Almost everything was for sale. Military equipment was taken off duty in order to turn into hard cash and settle somewhere in a banana-lemon offshore. Weapons and ammunition from Ukraine appeared in the Balkans, Africa, Afghanistan and other hot spots.
So did the Muscovites disarm Ukraine at the most inopportune moment, or did they achieve everything themselves?
There was another danger - nuclear blackmail similar to Chernobyl, with the aim of extorting money. Therefore, Ukraine had to lose nuclear weapons - the very royal seal with which it could only crack nuts.
The Russian leadership, which, despite the dominance of representatives of the fifth column, retained an influential layer of statists, had a clear position so that Soviet nuclear weapons would not fall into the hands of the Americans and their allies.
The wishes of the parties were close, although they did not completely coincide. Therefore, the Americans agreed to the return of Ukraine’s entire nuclear arsenal to the Russian Federation, which had a full cycle of processing and storage of nuclear materials.
Thus, by signing the Budapest Memorandum, all parties got what they wanted. America - calm, Russia - complete control over the nuclear weapons of the USSR, Ukraine - money and other goodies that overshadowed the ratification of some pieces of paper.
On the other hand, the Russian leadership was so afraid of accusations of imperial ambitions from former comrades in the USSR and representatives of the “Free World”, they so passionately wanted to be accepted into the “high society” that they too often traded on national interests.
Therefore, Ukraine’s indignation is extremely understandable. Having become accustomed to constant concessions from Russia and having received a chance with the victory of “Maidan-2” to finally resolve the “Russian question” throughout the entire territory of the Left Bank, at the same time putting an end to the hated Crimean Fronde, in Kyiv they did not fully believe that Russia would intervene in events so powerfully and suddenly.
But here, Ukraine has no one to blame but itself. Even the most angelic patience with a pathological fool eventually ends. All that Russia needed from Ukraine, starting in 1992, was to be a truly independent state. That is, a state that fulfills concluded agreements with full responsibility. Be a reliable transit country, don’t do bad things geopolitically, respect the rights of the Russian and Russian-speaking population - and you will have happiness, peace of mind and preferences. And now, fussing and crying through your hair, tearing off your own head yourself - isn’t it just another stupidity?
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