I must confess that I do not know enough about international law to know that there was a difference between assurances and guarantees. After reading about it I realize that the latter is stronger than the former so I suppose I was incorrect in using that word, thanks for pointing it out, learnt something new :) My point however was that Budapest Memorandum was pretty important for nonproliferation since it reduced the amount of nuclear powers a lot, and the actions of Russia proves that it unfortunately was a mistake for Ukraine (and Belarus and Kazakstan) to agree from a self-interested point of view. If they had not agreed the invasion would most likely not have happened and this is something that I am sure many countries and leaders are considering.
I suppose your point about security guarantees also points to joining NATO as an important step for security for non-nuclear powers since there I am sure that you get actual security guarantees :D
I hope you are right that the damage caused to Russia will be enough to deter other nations and Russia from acting similarly in the future, I am not so sure considering the fact that Russia so far has shown no signs of giving up. Hopefully it will change once Ukraine start their offensive.
I must confess that I do not know enough about international law to know that there was a difference between assurances and guarantees. After reading about it I realize that the latter is stronger than the former so I suppose I was incorrect in using that word, thanks for pointing it out, learnt something new :)
My point however was that Budapest Memorandum was pretty important for nonproliferation since it reduced the amount of nuclear powers a lot, and the actions of Russia proves that it unfortunately was a mistake for Ukraine (and Belarus and Kazakstan) to agree from a self-interested point of view. If they had not agreed the invasion would most likely not have happened and this is something that I am sure many countries and leaders are considering.
I suppose your point about security guarantees also points to joining NATO as an important step for security for non-nuclear powers since there I am sure that you get actual security guarantees :D
I hope you are right that the damage caused to Russia will be enough to deter other nations and Russia from acting similarly in the future, I am not so sure considering the fact that Russia so far has shown no signs of giving up. Hopefully it will change once Ukraine start their offensive.