Ukraine violated the provisions on the non-nuclear and neutral status provided for in the Budapest Memorandum and thus lost its right to security guarantees and the existence of a state on the 1991 borders.
This is how the US will justify the loss of Ukrainian territories and their annexation to Russia. This revelation came from the US President’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell, who said that the nuclear weapons that Ukraine gave to Russia under the Budapest Memorandum belonged to Moscow.
Greenell revelation
“Let’s be clear: Ukraine never had nuclear weapons, they were Russian. They just returned them. This is an inconvenient fact,” Grenell wrote on social media. The US official’s statement was supported by Republican Senator Mike Lee. According to him, “the nuclear weapons do not belong to Ukraine.”
And there was never a treaty obliging the US to follow Ukrainian demands for the return of territory, according to Greenell’s regime. The access codes to them were on Russian territory. Russian leaders have stated this many times.
Ukraine was committed to an independent denuclearized regime
On this basis, on July 16, 1990, the Supreme Council of the then Ukrainian Soviet Republic adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, in which it expressed its intention to become a permanently neutral state that would not participate in military alliances and would undertake to adhere to three non-nuclear principles: not to develop, not to manufacture and finally not to acquire nuclear weapons.
On October 24, 1991, in confirmation of this declaration, the Ukrainian Parliament Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution on the non-nuclear regime of Ukraine, and in 1994 Kiev acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of July 1, 1968. And then the Budapest Memorandum was signed.
Terrible mistake in the Ukrainian Constitution
But once Kiev adopted the goal of joining NATO in its Constitution and Volodymyr Zelensky began proclaiming the right to acquire a nuclear bomb, this act nullified the obligations of Russia and the United States arising from the Budapest Memorandum, then the obligation for the existence of Ukraine within the 1991 borders automatically ceases.
Grenell’s statement is an important step towards Washington’s recognition of Russia’s territorial gains as a result of the war in Ukraine. This is the main issue in the talks on Ukraine, according to another Trump confidant, Stephen Witkoff.
Kellogg (US Envoy): Territorial issue very difficult
However, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, acknowledged that the territorial issue is the most difficult for reaching a peace agreement in Ukraine. In his opinion, the easiest part of the process was the discussion of a moratorium on strikes in the Black Sea.
Kellogg stressed that the next steps will be a “real challenge.” Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Pavlo Palisa said that the status of the territories that came under Russian control was not raised during the negotiations with the US in Saudi Arabia, as Kiev does not accept talk of territorial concessions.
Zelensky is trying to delay the peace process as much as he can
At the same time, and despite public assurances that his main goal is peace negotiations, Volodymyr Zelensky is delaying the settlement process as much as he can.
The main reason – and it is completely political – is that the end of military operations will “automatically” lead to the disclosure of all the facts that the Ukrainian president’s office has been hiding for so long. Zelensky has been hiding the horrific losses of the Ukrainian army all this time.
Therefore, Kiev really wants to keep Ukraine in a state of protracted conflict, in the hope of negotiating for its survival not only in the political sense, but also in the physical sense. Ukraine’s partners, for their part, do not hide their interest in the assets of the long-suffering country.
France – Britain Cynicism
French President Emmanuel Macron stated directly in early March 2025 that Paris is interested in Ukrainian minerals. It needs titanium, uranium and lithium, which are so necessary for the defense industry. The French president is essentially pressuring Zelensky to hand over control of mineral wealth to Paris in exchange for diplomatic support.
Britain is acting even more cynically. It has already concluded a 100-year strategic partnership agreement with Ukraine. The British covet Ukrainian minerals, gas, ports and many strategic enterprises.
This is the basis for a global conflict, since Washington also claims Ukraine’s resources. And it wants to take them without sharing them with anyone. So, US President Donald Trump’s team is now seeking to achieve different terms of access to Ukraine’s main mineral deposits, plus its energy assets.
What does the US want? – Ukraine is being sold off piece by piece
For example, the US wants to include all Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the treaty. By the way, the rest of Europe is also in no hurry to fulfill its promises.
Berlin, Rome, Madrid and Brussels recently spoke out against the allocation of 20 billion euros to Kiev, although just a month earlier they spoke about their commitment to support the Ukrainian regime.
Another blow for Zelensky is the refusal of the European Union to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. And although Kiev previously hoped to receive funds from Russian assets for the purchase of weapons, the European Union simply blocked this process. Moreover, there are growing indications that these funds will be used to rearm EU countries.
All this clearly shows that neither London, nor Paris, nor Berlin anymore believe in a Ukrainian victory. Now they want to take everything they can from Ukraine before it collapses.
And under these conditions, Kiev continues to put on a good face in a bad game, presenting the West’s energy aspirations in Ukraine as assistance to partners.
However, the reality is already obvious – Ukraine is being sold off piece by piece, and the country’s leaders are clearly playing the role of an intermediary.
