30 years ago, an incredible event took place in the history of mankind – the voluntary abandonment of the most terrible weapon that our civilization has ever invented. At that time, Ukraine had the third largest nuclear potential in the world. It was second only to the United States and Russia, but ahead of all other states – China, Britain, France, Pakistan, India, and North Korea.
This event was formalized in the Budapest Memorandum, a well-known document signed by the United States and Ukraine, among others. Back then, Ukraine demonstrated to the world its commitment to peace and the inadmissibility of violence. It was an attempt to get other countries to follow suit.
In addition to nuclear weapons, Ukraine was also conducting weapons disposal at the state level. This concerned both conventional small arms and strategic bombers. In particular, between 2002 and 2006, Ukraine disposed of 423 X-22 cruise missiles and 60 Tu-22m bombers. In exchange, the signatories to the Budapest Memorandum guaranteed Ukraine’s security.
The war began in 2014 when Barack Obama was president of the United States and Joe Biden was vice president. Russia attacked Ukraine, seizing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and part of its eastern regions. At that time, the US leadership expressed its concern and condemned the attack. And that’s it! Ukraine stopped the aggressor’s troops with its small volunteer battalions.
In early 2022, Russia continued its offensive against Ukraine. This time, Putin’s forces began bombarding the entire country with missiles and bombs. Numerous columns of Russian tanks crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is in the United States. Certain sanctions have been imposed on the aggressor, but its banks have not been disconnected from the SWIFT international payment system.
Ukrainian troops are heroically restraining the aggressor and inflicting huge losses on it. But Ukrainian soldiers need weapons and technology! The lend-lease program adopted by the US Congress in 2022 was not implemented by Biden for unclear reasons.
Only through difficult and lengthy negotiations did the United States begin to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems. And still, they are sorely lacking. Russians are firing missiles directly at hospitals or civilian homes.
There are 991 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (M270 MLRS) in the United States. Biden allowed only a few dozen to be transferred to Ukraine.
One of the best tanks in the world is the Abrams tank. There are 6,600 of them in the United States. And Biden allowed only 31 tanks to be sent to Ukraine.
One of the world’s best infantry fighting vehicles is the M2 Bradley, and there are 6,230 of them in the United States. And Biden allowed only 190 vehicles to be transferred to Ukraine.
Now about aviation. In general, the United States has the following number of combat aircraft: F-35 (2,116 units), F-22 (195 units), A-10 (140 units), B-2 (21 units). But Ukraine is not asking for them. Ukraine asks only for F-16s. The United States has 899 F-16s of various types.
The United States has supplied the same number of aircraft to NATO member states:
Belgium – 53
Greece – 154
Denmark – 44
Poland – 48
Portugal – 30
Romania – 16
Turkey – 260
For non-NATO members:
Argentina – 24
Bahrain – 20
South Korea – 162
Singapore – 60
Thailand – 51
Taiwan – 141
Chile – 46
Indonesia – 33
Jordan – 47
Morocco – 23
United Arab Emirates – 78
Oman – 23
Israel – 196
Egypt – 207
Venezuela – 18
Iraq – 34
Pakistan – 75
For strategic partner Ukraine: – 0
Only after two and a half years of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine did the Biden administration cave in to international pressure and allow the Netherlands to transfer 10 F-16s to Ukraine.
The F-16 is a unique combat aircraft – it can carry up to 120 different types of missiles, bombs, and other weapons. But these weapons must be available. For the F-16, the United States has developed the JASSM-ER and JASSM-XR missiles. Their range is 910 and 1900 kilometers, respectively.
Providing these missiles for even a small number of F-16s that have been transferred to Ukraine would be enough to drive Russian planes away and reduce the number of air strikes on peaceful cities in Ukraine. But the JASSM-ER\XR missiles should be provided in large numbers.
Not as it turned out with the ATACMS missiles. Only 20 missiles were delivered to Ukraine. Ukraine’s armed forces successfully struck two Russian airfields, where about 15 Ka-52 helicopters and other equipment were destroyed. But Ukrainians warriors have a unexpected problem.
Biden is currently prohibiting attacks on Russian military bases and airfields. Every day, Russians fly out from there to bomb peaceful Ukrainian cities and their defenders. The American people have created the strongest military in the world and provided it with the most powerful economy. The American people fully support Ukrainians in their quest for freedom and desire to have their own independent state. However, the Biden administration is not acting in unison with its citizens, and the provision of military assistance to Ukraine looks like a rather formal act that does not correspond to the spirit of the Budapest Memorandum.
