Ukraine gave up its nukes at America's urging, leaving them powerless to stop Russia

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has indicated President Donald Trump intends to maintain U.S. sanctions against Russia until Ukraine's independence is fully restored, including control over the Crimea. Mike Opelka calls for these sanctions to not only be maintained but increased.

In Mike's view, the Budapest Memorandum signed by Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. in 1994 — which guaranteed Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for their nuclear disarmament — contributed to Russia's willingness to invade Crimea, as Putin didn't believe that America would respond in force to an invasion of their former Eastern Bloc neighbor. Therefore, as Mike argues, the U.S. bears a large share of the responsibility for restoring the Crimea to Ukraine.

To see more from Mike, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “Pure Opelka” weekdays 7–10pm ET & Saturdays 6–9am ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.