00:00The Budapest Memorandum was a bust. Now Ukraine is seeking real and robust security guarantees
00:07from the U.S. and their European allies. Ten weeks to make a lifetime of difference,
00:13we head to the field to see how Ukrainian soldiers
00:16are receiving leadership training from the UK-led Operation Interflex.
00:21Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Weapons and Warfare for Straight Arrow News.
00:30I'm your host, Ryan Robertson. And for the first time ever, we are coming to you from within the
00:34borders of a country at war. All this week, we are on the ground and reporting from Ukraine's
00:40seventh largest city, Lviv. It's home to almost a million people. The city serves as a major hub
00:45for displaced persons and volunteers dealing with the human impact of the war.
00:50Our goal is to put a face on the countless headlines that grabbed the world's attention
00:54since Russia's illegal invasion more than three years ago. An invasion that was never supposed to
01:00happen. In 1994, the leaders of the United States, the UK, Ukraine and Russia all signed the Budapest
01:07Memorandum. The goal of that agreement was to provide security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for the
01:13country joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty and giving its old Soviet-era nuclear weapons back to Russia.
01:20The failure of that agreement and what happens next is the subject of this week's debrief.
01:28I think this is something that even Western analysts often miss about Ukraine is that we have
01:34this experience in the past. And this is why we're so sensitive to words, wordings,
01:39you know, language used in the documents. 31 years ago, with the world watching,
01:45Presidents Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister John Major,
01:49and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed the Budapest Memorandum. The failure of that agreement
01:57has been on display since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its large-scale
02:04invasion in February of 2022. Its name, the Budapest Memorandum, has become synonymous
02:11to a failed document or a failed security guarantee. And if you look closely at the
02:16text that you filmed today, you will see that even the word guarantees is not there. There are
02:22security assurances. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman
02:26Hiyori Tehi says now the memorandum is being used as a cautionary example to ensure Ukraine does not
02:33repeat past mistakes. Under the agreement, Ukraine relinquished the nuclear arsenal it inherited
02:40from the Soviet Union in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the United States, and the
02:47United Kingdom. The leaders of those respective countries pledged to respect Ukraine's independence,
02:54sovereignty, and borders. Commitments Russia clearly violated.
02:59Ukraine unfortunately has this very bitter experience, very bitter past when it comes to
03:04security guarantees and negotiations on that and documents proving them.
03:09Tehi adds, Kyiv is now extremely cautious about the language used in any future agreements.
03:15That is why today Ukraine's line is very clear and President Zelenskyy was reiterating it in
03:20Washington D.C. that Ukraine needs real security guarantees, which are robust, which are really
03:27effective, which are working, which are not assurances, they are real security guarantees.
03:33And obviously we don't need Budapest number two.
03:39Tehi also emphasizes that the nature of cooperation fundamentally shifted. Ukraine is no longer merely
03:46seeking security guarantees. It is actively contributing to European security.
03:52This is a two-way street. So Ukraine is providing a lot of security to Europe. We're holding back
03:57well, NATO's primary adversary, aggressive Russia. Ukraine is currently holding it back, the Ukrainian
04:04army. And we are very, I would say, realistic today. I think there is much more realism today in
04:10Ukraine than there was in 1990s. And we clearly understand that our own army is our main security
04:16guarantee. So three decades on, Ukraine is once again negotiating its future with Western partners
04:23amid ongoing Russian aggression, as the decisions and compromises made in the 1990s continue to have
04:31a significant impact on its desire for lasting security.
04:40Ask anyone who's ever served and they'll tell you, professional development is crucial to creating
04:44an environment for success. Each branch of the military spends millions on the continuing education
04:50of their soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and guardians. Even in times of conflict, training is a
04:57critical factor to winning any battle, which is why Ukraine is leaning on its partners in NATO to make
05:02sure its soldiers are ready to take the fight to their Russian adversaries. And that's why Operation
05:07Interflex is our weapon of the week.
05:16From clearing trenches and providing cover fire to leadership opportunities, these Ukrainian soldiers
05:22are preparing for a fight that's nearly 2,000 miles away. We have to do this so that the enemy doesn't
05:30go on to invade other countries and wreak havoc as they are currently doing on our territory.
05:37Leaning on the experience of NATO allies and partners, they are training for leadership roles
05:42on the front lines. Through the UK-led Operation Interflex, they are immersed in a 10-week platoon
05:48commander course. The focus is on teaching them the best tactics and strategies to take advantage of
05:55Russian weaknesses on the battlefield. I've heard the training team running the platoon
06:00commander's battle course. So training Ukrainian junior officers, junior leaders. So they'll be
06:06mostly going back to Ukraine and running platoons of about 30 soldiers, mostly working in small teams
06:13from a variety of different CAT badges. So infantry, artillery, logistics, all different kinds.
06:19We're mainly training them in sort of leadership and planning.
06:23Operation Interflex is an extensive program of courses taking place across various undisclosed
06:29locations in the United Kingdom. So our approach with our course is very much a two-way thing.
06:35We're trying to learn as much as we can from their experiences on the battlefield.
06:39And at the same time, what we're trying to teach them is not necessarily how you do an individual
06:45drill, how you conduct a specific attack. We're trying to teach them more processes,
06:50how to conduct planning, how to analyze the situation, and how to apply your force to that
06:56particular problem. Interflex started in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
07:02The course has trainers from NATO allies, Albania, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania,
07:08Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Australia and New Zealand also are involved
07:15in Interflex as NATO partners. We're not trying to tell them that, you know,
07:20our way of doing things or our way of planning things is the only way. And we very much try and
07:24get as much of the answers from them as we can. But it's, yeah, we very much see it as an exchange.
07:28For the Ukrainians, the experience is about more than the fighting, waiting for them back home.
07:37The loss of my comrades in arms is not the only thing that drives me. I'm also motivated to keep
07:42my country free, to keep my children, my grandchildren. I have four of them, to keep them alive without war,
07:49so that they never know what war is.
08:00To date, nearly 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have taken part in Operation Interflex
08:06since it began in July of 2022. A number that represents a point of pride for the troops leading
08:12the training. So there's probably quite a sense of pride and a little bit of privilege to be part,
08:18albeit just a very little part of it, but a part of a huge operation, which is hopefully making a
08:24difference. On Ukraine's Independence Day, August 24th, the UK announced Operation Interflex will continue
08:32until at least the end of 2026, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening Ukraine's defense.
08:45All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors.
08:49All right, folks, for my wrap this week, I want to spend just a few minutes talking about why it was
08:53important for us to come to Ukraine. First off, we were invited to cover the Defense Tech Valley 2025
08:59summit and exposition. It's a very important event for Ukraine to showcase the technologies it's
09:05developing and teach other countries how to do the same while also attracting new investments.
09:10And with NATO spending limits up to 5 percent of GDP, coupled with Russia's recent drone incursions into
09:17Poland and Romania, there will be plenty of European decision makers in attendance at this event.
09:23Beyond the expo, though, we wanted to help share the stories and insights from this city.
09:28It's a place far from the front lines, but not immune from the war's impacts. Lviv is an extremely
09:35important place for Ukrainian soldiers looking to heal and reintegrate back into society after their
09:40time fighting Russia. It's also a place where people fleeing the war can go to find safety and comfort,
09:47and the strength to carry on despite Moscow's efforts to kill the hope and spirit of the Ukrainian
09:53people. So we are here to tell those stories, to provide more insights into what's happening in
09:58Ukraine after three and a half years of war, and share those lessons with you.
10:04And that's going to do it for us this week on Weapons and Warfare. As always,
10:07if you like what you saw and or heard, please like and subscribe to our social media feeds,
10:12and download the Straight Arrow News app today. Over the next couple of weeks,
10:15we're going to be rolling out all the stories that we gathered here in Ukraine,
10:19so the best way to stay up to date on all of those is through the app.
10:22In the meantime, for senior producer Brad Baker, video editor Brian Spencer,
10:26motion artist Dakota Patio and photographer Sam Beattie. I'm Ryan Robertson, Straight Arrow News,
10:31signing off.
