Bill Clinton Regrets Leaving Ukraine Vulnerable to Russian Aggression

Bill Clinton recently expressed regret for an agreement he and the British negotiated with Russia and Ukraine in 1994 when he held the office of President of the United States that left the former Soviet Republic vulnerable to Russian aggression, despite the terms of the deal, as happened in 2014 in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and more fully last year. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet nuclear weapons (long-range missiles with nuclear warheads) were left not only in the Russian Federation, but in three other Soviet Republics, including Ukraine. With non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as a goal, the Western allies struck a deal with Russia to recognize the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea and eastern Ukraine, in exchange for the removal of the weapons, which Russia feared, from Ukrainian territory. The U.S. and the United Kingdom guaranteed Ukraine’s security, but this guarantee fell far short of the kind of protection offered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to its members against the much more powerful Russian Federation. Clinton theorized that if Ukraine had retained its nuclear weapons, Russia might have been deterred. Regardless of the merits of his thought, his expression underscores that the Anglo-American security guarantees given to Ukraine were obviously inadequate. NATO, which Ukraine has wanted to join, is a defensive alliance, whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Under Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union, Russia opposes NATO because it is an obstacle to Russian aggression. Although not directly involved in the fighting, the U.S., the U.K. and other NATO members are providing support to Ukraine against Russian aggression, which violates not only the 1994 agreement, but international law.