US agrees to link minerals deal to Budapest Memorandum

The United States has agreed to link the future minerals deal to the Budapest Memorandum. This is already written and it is good for Ukraine. Source: European Pravda's article

Details: The author of the article has read the text of the "Memorandum of Intent between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Ukraine to Finalise a Formal Agreement on Economic Partnership and Reconstruction Investment Fund', which the parties signed on 17 April.

This document for the first time puts American aid to Ukraine on a par with Ukraine's aid to the world, which it provided 30 years ago when it signed the so-called Budapest Memorandum under US pressure. "The main achievement [of the memorandum - ed.] is that it is the first time that it has linked US assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal. This provision will be helpful in further negotiations, given Kyiv's need to 'fight back' against Trump's demands for compensation for the aid provided to Ukraine," the article says.

The phrase about the US recognising "the contribution that Ukraine has made to strengthening international peace and security by voluntarily giving up the world's third-largest nuclear weapons arsenal" comes almost immediately after a reference to the US "significant financial and material support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022".

"(This) means that Ukraine has received an additional bargaining chip in the negotiations. Do you want compensation for the cost of American aid? Let's calculate the 'market value' of the 1,500-2,000 strategic nuclear warheads and even more tactical warheads, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and dozens of strategic bombers that Ukraine gave up under the Budapest Memorandum," the article says.

The author believes that this will allow Kyiv to tell the US that the two countries can either count the cost of the weapons or agree that they both "helped world security" at different times and do not demand monetary compensation for this.

Background: 

• European Pravda reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump has returned to the version of the minerals deal that requires Ukraine to reimburse all the assistance the US provided after Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.
• The media reported that the United States had eased its demands on Ukraine's repayment of aid during negotiations on the minerals deal.

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