Russia invaded Ukraine; that is a fact!
Ukraine is a sovereign country with the right to self-determination, also a fact.
According to the three memoranda,[6] Russia, the US and the UK confirmed their recognition of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine becoming parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and effectively removing all Soviet nuclear weapons from their soil, and that they agreed to the following:
- Respect the signatory’s independence and sovereignty in the existing borders (in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act).[7]
- Refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of the signatories to the memorandum, and undertake that none of their weapons will ever be used against these countries, except in cases of self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
- Refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus and Kazakhstan of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.
- Seek immediate Security Council action to provide assistance to the signatory if they “should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used”.
- Not to use nuclear weapons against any non–nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.[5]: 169–171 [8][9]
- Consult with one another if questions arise regarding those commitments.[10][11]
But despite that, when Ukraine wanted to have close trade relations with the EU, they were invaded.
Crimea was annexed, and the Russian military also invaded Ukraine in the Donbas.
The Minsk agreements were negotiated to stop the war in the Donbas.
In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine again and started their battle to take Kyiv, but they did not succeed.
The Bucha massacre is a display of how brutal the start of the invasion was.
Russia has not succeeded in taking Kyiv, and the war is still ongoing.
Ukraine had not only been able to stop Russia’s advance but has also managed to liberate large parts that were occupied after the invasion.
Ukraine was able to do this because of the military aid and support they received.
But despite the US being a signatory of the Budapest Memorandum, since 2023 the republicans have been doing everything in their power to obstruct support for Ukraine.
After the US elections in 2024, there was a push to bring much-needed supplies from the US to Ukraine.
But now Donald Trump is withholding it, even threatening to cut off access to Starlink if he does not get his way.
What he wants is 500 billion in return for given aid to Ukraine, saying that the US has paid much more than Europe.
The 300 billion he mentions is false.
But even worse, despite the US being a signatory of the Budapest Memorandum, he plays with the lives of everyone who is defending Ukraine.
Naming Zelensky a dictator while being cozy with Putin, this is really unbelievable.
What are the real numbers?
Europe surpasses the US.
Of course this isn’t about and should not be about who is given more aid; it should be an international effort to help Ukraine in their defense against the Russian war machine.
But 114 billion from the US is a lot less than the number that Trump mentions and also less than the 132 billion from Europe.
Also, Europe has 115 billion to be allocated versus the US’s 5 billion.
So not only is the 300 billion that Trump mentions a lie, but he is also giving everything away to Russia and trying to get his way with billions of raw materials by forcing Ukraine to sign a ridiculous deal.
Now on NATO.
The US obviously has a massive military spending budget of 3.5 percent of GDP.
In Europe spending is up, but many countries have yet to reach 2 percent, and the message is that it must even be north of 3 percent.
But do not be fooled; the US has 904 military bases around the world, and only 56 of them are NATO.
Those NATO bases are in Europe.
So a large part of the US military budget is for US military and political influence around the world.
The good is that Europe now is waking up to the fact that the US is not an ally but is instead quite hostile towards Europe.
For Europe, it is time to break the chain and stand on their own feet; rebuild and maintain a strong European defense.
Here you’ll find information about direct and indirect funding of NATO.