Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
1/30/2015
The U.S. should take a firm stance in insisting Russia comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Budapest Memorandum, former State Department and U.S. military officials said at separate Senate Armed Services Committee hearings exploring general U.S. national security strategy this week. The U.S. has formally accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty—which bans production of missiles capable of hitting targets between 500 and 5,500 kilometers away—through the country’s development of the R-500 cruise missile. Testifying before the committee on Jan. 29, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Russia’s motivation “undoubtedly” is to employ nuclear weapons to compensate for its paltry force numbers along its borders. But the U.S. should not allow Russia to violate treaties merely because new strategic opportunities develop, Kissinger added. “So I believe that we have to be very firm in insisting on carrying out these agreements,” he said.
Officials Say US Not Honoring Budapest Memorandum
During another Jan. 27 full SASC hearing, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) criticized the Obama Administration’s diplomacy-centric approach to the Ukraine crisis, expressing concern that the lack of U.S. “security assurances” provided to Ukraine during its ongoing Russian occupation could serve to weaken global nonproliferation efforts. “And I think the other consideration for all of us in this is, in signing the Budapest Memorandum, why would any nation, again, give up its nuclear weapons when we won’t provide basic defensive arms when they are faced with aggression on their own territory?” she asked, calling the Obama Administration’s decision not to provide defense arms to Ukraine for defense against Russian separatists a “disgrace” that sends the wrong message. Under the Budapest Memorandum, the U.S., United Kingdom and Russia promised “security assurances” to Ukraine and to respect its borders in exchange for elimination of that country’s nuclear weapons program. Ukraine ditched its nuclear weapons program two decades ago, but Russia essentially redrew Ukraine’s border by annexing Crimea last year after separatists in the region expressed a desire to be part of Russia.
Responding to Ayotte, retired Gen. John Keane, former Army Vice Chief of Staff, said the U.S. “went back on our word” in response to the Budapest Memorandum, and expressed concern that lenience toward Russia could erode U.S. partners’ confidence in NATO. “I believe that’s one of the reasons that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is looking at NATO itself and he’s saying to himself, ‘Is this still the organization that helped force the collapse of the Soviet Union back in ‘91? Or has this organization lost its moral fiber?’ So, I think when we break agreements like that, even though Ukraine was not a member of NATO, clearly, the deal that was made was in their interest, as well as the world’s interest. And we foreclosed on it. And shame on us for doing that.” Keane added that he thinks continued lack of U.S. military aid to Ukraine “emboldens and encourages” Putin. “I mean, common sense tells you it does, and his behavior certainly underscores that,” Keane said.
Former Secretary of State George Shultz at the Jan. 29 SASC hearing expressed sentiments that the Budapest Memorandum was all but dead. “You don’t even hear about that agreement anymore,” he said. “It doesn’t mean a thing.”
