Tim Snyder: The perversion of Russia's Ukrainian nuke accusations

[BeyondGeography]

…Ukraine has no nuclear weapons, and no nuclear weapons program. Ukraine has done more for the cause of nuclear non-proliferation than any other country. In the early 1990s, Ukraine had the the third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, a legacy of the Soviet Union. It agreed to disarm itself entirely in 1994, in exchange for security guarantees from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Russian Federation. In 1996, when its nuclear disarmament was completed, sunflowers were planted around Ukraine's empty silos as a sign of peace.

One has to stop and take a deep breath before enunciating the contradictions and perversions of the Kremlin's argument about nuclear weapons, because they are so deep and so numerous. In invading Ukraine, in 2014 and again now, Russia has done more for the cause of nuclear proliferation than any country in the world. It has taught the lesson that countries should keep or build a nuclear arsenal, in order to deter large aggressive neighbors from invading them.

It is not just that Russia has broken its promise to defend Ukraine, which was spelled out in something called the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. It is blaming the country that abandoned nuclear weapons for acquiring them, while itself holding the world's largest nuclear arsenal. And even as Russia does so, Putin is brandishing his own nuclear weapons in a way that is highly irresponsible, suggesting that their use would be acceptable in a senseless war that Russia began without provocation.

… Nothing that the Kremlin has said about Russian war aims actually makes any sense. But it does make nonsense. The war on the ground in Ukraine is all too real. But the Russian war is also fought in and for unreality, to extend its hold on our minds as far as possible. When unreality spreads, reality becomes more murderous.

The senseless talk about nuclear weapons is an example of this. But, as I will hope to keep showing, the creation of of nonsense is an essential element of Russian warfighting. As such, it calls for analysis, and resistance.

https://snyder.substack.com/p/how-to-read-perversion?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. Sadly, the Budapest memorandum is meaningless and useless

Because it’s only enforcement mechanism is through the UN Security Council, which Russia has veto power over.

The only work around would be to kick Russia out of the UN.