The USA had thirty years to walk back from the Budapest Memorandum.
But over that period, not only has the USA left it in place, it’s reiterated the commitment on multiple occasions... And, other countries including China have backed the memorandum.
Russia committed to compensate Ukraine for the handover of the enriched uranium in the nuclear stockpile (worth far more than the rare earth metals at the time). The USA committed to the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction assistance, to decommission the missile silos.
It wasn’t a worthless promise in any sense other than, the USA and Russia both got what they wanted, and then both shafted Ukraine between 20012 and 2014. Russia was egregiously breaking the terms of the Memorandum with its economic and fuel blackmail, while the State Department and the biolabs were bending the rules in the other direction.
But, without Russia totally breaking the agreement before anyone else, the USA would’ve had no excuse. At least the USA could argue it was invited by Ukraine to get involved; Russia had no such excuse.
One more time. Unless it’s ratified by the US Senate, it’s a worthless Bill Clinton promise. We are not bound by it. Then you trust the Chicoms “commitment” and expect the treacherous Russians to honor it?