Originally posted by: K.Universe.
Back in 1994, Ukraine relinquished its nuclear weapons "thanks" to tremendous efforts and political pressure by US, UK and, get this, Russia! In return, among other assurances titled the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, these countries agreed to "protect" Ukraine in the event of a future attack on the nation’s sovereignty. Bill_I_did_not_have_sexual_relations_with_that_woman_Clinton even claimed a diplomatic victory😊 What's the likelihood of Russia invading Ukraine if Ukraine had not given up its nukes? Would those nukes have served as a deterrent to a Russian invasion today? All rhetorical questions whose answers are probably too apparent!
The protection assurances turned into "sanctions" when Russia seized control of Crimea. This was in 2014 under Obama administration.
At least European Union's reliance on Russia's energy wouldn't have been as bad had democrats in US not restricted drilling and exploration of natural gas, opposed projects like Keystone XL Pipeline, killed power plants based on coal, and in general demonized fossil fuel industry.
All actions have consequences. You can't easily stand up to a nation which is/was a superpower and on whom you are dependent for your energy consumption. And, after the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, I doubt Putin or Xi take US and its allies' "warnings" seriously!
We can wait for the other shoe to drop when China decides to deploy its "peacekeeping" troops to Taiwan.
CID
Anupamaa
