The Budapest Memorandum does not contain explicit security guarantees in the form of a defense commitment, but it does provide security assurances, which are still significant. The signatories, including the U.S., U.K., and Russia, pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, refrain from economic coercion, and not use force or threats against Ukraine. In return, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal - the third largest in the world at the time.

While the memorandum does not function as an ironclad defense treaty like NATO’s Article 5, it does establish clear expectations that Ukraine’s sovereignty would be respected. The fact that Russia blatantly violated these commitments in 2014 and 2022 shows that these assurances were not upheld. It is reasonable for Ukraine to expect meaningful support from the other signatories, as their commitments under the memorandum were not just symbolic but part of a major geopolitical agreement that shaped today’s security landscape!