Iowa professor says 1994 agreement could’ve prevented Russia-Ukraine war

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) - For some perspective on the conflict in Ukraine, the Rotary Club of Sioux City brought in professor Dr. Rudy Daniels, Monday.

Daniels, who has studied Russia, and Eastern Europe, said a little-known memorandum, signed in Budapest in 1994, disarmed Ukraine’s nuclear weapons.

As we found out, Ukraine never received any military benefit from the move. Dr. Daniels says Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for a series of assurances, including a security assurance.

But assurance is not a guarantee. And therefore, the United States does not have to come to the military aide of Ukraine.

“If there had been that guarantee to the Bucharest protocol, then there would have been the announced and known threat behind it, but... that doesn’t exist, no,” said Daniels.

Daniels says a security guarantee could have prevented the war in Ukraine because the West would be obligated to come to Ukraine’s national defense.

Copyright 2022 KTIV. All rights reserved.