On the 5th of December 1994, the Budapest Memorandum was signed, effectively banning the US or the Russian Federation from threatening the use of nuclear weapons except in cases of self-defense. On February 21, 2023, Russia suspended this treaty.

Russia started war with Ukraine in early 2022, and they are now being pushed back out of Ukraine after a year of war. It has been costly on both sides, and Ukraine shows no signs of retreat. This is all mainly due to NATO supplying Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and other vehicles. Ukraine is nearing the border of Russia, and in response Russia has suspended themselves from the START treaty.

The START treaty was designed to reduce the chances of a nuclear war. This was done by limiting all factors of the use of nuclear weapons, such as movement, building, and testing. The use of nuclear weapons has been threatened by Russia, with them moving the weapons into “combat duty” as well as saying that the use of depleted uranium tank rounds are nuclear weapons.

In my opinion, I think that Russia has tried to threaten other countries with nuclear war and total war, but it is never true. When Russia left START, they most likely did it to scare the U.S and begin development of nukes once again. This could also show that Russia is getting more desperate as Ukraine nears their border.

I don’t think all out nuclear war will happen, but rather a new cold war between China, Russia, and the U.S. If any nuclear weapons are used, it would most likely be in Ukraine if things became too desperate for Russia. Some things have escalated tensions between America and Russia, especially President Biden’s visit to Kyiv.

When Biden visited Ukraine, many Americans (myself included) thought this was an incredibly bad idea. Though this may be the first time we have seen a President move into a hostile environment, it was still a sign to the Russians that we could care less about what they have done to Ukraine. The risk was still incredibly high though, Biden could have easily been killed which would have started a world war between NATO and Russia.

I believe this entire war in Ukraine is something that affects all of us. We are all part of this nation and need to know about what is going on in our country’s investments.