With the present threat of war looming in Eastern Europe, the unscrupulous ambition of Russian President Vladimir Putin has come into greater focus. The current crisis, combined with Russia’s use of military force to achieve annexation of Crimea, Ukraine, in 2014, has revealed the nefarious lengths to which Putin will go in pursuing his geopolitical self-interests.
Particularly, Putin has shown no qualms about taking a hypocritical position – demanding territorial security guarantees for Russia, while simultaneously betraying Russia’s written security assurances promised to Ukraine, in 1994, under what’s commonly referred to as the Budapest Memorandum.
The rise of Vladimir Putin to political prominence, including his willingness to employ political intrigue in achieving his geopolitical goals, had caused Bible prophecy teachers to speculate on the possibility of Russia, and even Putin, playing a role in unfolding eschatological events.
Budapest Memorandum – Russia’s Lie to Obtain Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament
In 1991, following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia became the successor state of the USSR, inheriting most of the Soviet nuclear weapons. However, three newly independent nations – Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, also inherited portions of the USSR’s vast nuclear arsenal.
Ukraine was catapulted to the status of possessing the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, having inherited from the USSR “176 intercontinental ballistic missile complexes, 44 strategic bombers, [and] some 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads,” according to Harvard’s Belfer Center.
The possibility of a surge in nuclear proliferation resulted in negotiated efforts, specifically by nuclear states – Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom to convince Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine to agree to the disarmament of their inherited nuclear stockpiles and to become non-nuclear-weapon states and signatories of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
For Ukraine, a central concern in consenting to surrender of their nuclear weapons was obtaining assurances from, among others, Russia that they would respect and not threaten Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
To obtain Ukraine’s consent to nuclear disarmament, Russia, the UK, and the US all agreed to enter the Budapest Memorandum with Ukraine, formally titled the “Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.”
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin; American President Bill Clinton; British Prime Minister John Major; and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma formally ratified the Budapest Memorandum on December 5, 1994, during a joint signing ceremony.
Within the Memorandum, Russia promised Ukraine that they would “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and that they would “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.”
Yet, with Vladimir Putin’s forced military annexation of Crimea, twenty years later (in 2014), and his present amassing of troops along Ukraine’s border, the current Russian President has demonstrated zero-hesitancy in his willingness to repeatedly betray the territorial security assurances that Russia had promised Ukraine. Putin’s willful disregard of the Budapest Memorandum consigns the agreement as nothing more than a bad-faith effort, on the part of Russia, in obtaining Ukraine’s consent to nuclear disarmament.
Putin’s Treachery and Unscrupulous Military Tactics to Achieve Geopolitical Goals
Speaking in August of 2021, current Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasized the egregious nature of Putin’s treachery in violating the Budapest Memorandum with the forced annexation of Crimea, saying, “Our territory was annexed by [Russia], one of the…guarantors of Ukraine’s security in accordance with the Budapest Memorandum. One of the member states of the UN Security Council.”
As Russia’s present highest-ranking political leader, Putin has proven himself willing to engage in political intrigue to achieve his goals. This comes as no surprise, where prior to his political career, Vladimir Putin served for 16 years as a KGB foreign intelligence officer within the USSR, having ascended to the rank of a lieutenant colonel.
Citing Putin’s past action in Crimea, while warning about the current amassing of troops on Ukraine’s border, US State Department Spokesman, Ned Price, recently acknowledged the skill and complexity of the types of military tactics that Putin might employ in achieving his political goals.
“It was eight years ago, just about, when the Russians amassed troops on Ukraine’s borders; the Russians engaged in misinformation, in disinformation, in propaganda, seeking to portray Ukraine as the aggressor. The Russians then took it one step further, manufactured pretextual provocation that they then cited as a means by which to aggress against Ukraine and to undertake an incursion into sovereign Ukrainian territory,” said Price
Likewise recognizing Putin’s military aptitude, Ukrainian President Zelensky cautioned, in 2021, of the territorial security risks created by Putin’s calculated annexation of Crimea. Zelensky observed that the Crimean annexation was not only a grave military threat to Ukraine, but also to surrounding Eastern European nations, warning that “…Crimea has turned from a world-famous resort into a military base… a springboard for further expansion of the Russian Federation’s influence in the Black Sea region. Crimea has become a territory where human rights and freedoms are grossly and systematically violated.”
Bible prophecy teacher Amir Tsarfati says Vladimir Putin has skillfully sought to try and cast his current actions as aimed at achieving “peace and stability.” However, the true intent of Putin’s political maneuvers, warns Tsarfati, includes making “a major move” against Ukraine, along with long-range efforts aimed at dismantling NATO, by stripping from NATO “all the former countries that were part of the USSR,” while also forcing America to “give up its alliance with Europe.”
The Possibility of Russia and Putin’s Future Role in Eschatological Events
Pastor Don Stewart, of Educating Our World ministry, recently explained during a Bible prophecy update that “Ezekiel 38 and 39 speaks of a last days invasion of Israel, with a coalition of countries, including Russia, Iran, and Turkey; with the leader of Russia taking the lead.”
Stewart emphasized that “from Scripture… what we should expect at the time of the end… among other things – a weak American President and a strong Russian leader.”
Pastor Stewart speculated that the present world political scene, including US President Joe Biden’s faltering leadership, juxtaposed to Vladimir Putin’s rising dominance through political maneuvering, might possibly be reflective of the implications found in Ezekiel 38 and 39:
Ezekiel 38:1-2 KJV – “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him”
Considering the broader context of an apparent convergence and acceleration of eschatological events, Stewart speculated that the reference to “Gog” and “the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,” in Ezekiel 38:1-2, could possibly be applicable to Russia’s current leader.
Dr. Mark Hitchcock, professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary, explains that there is strong biblical evidence that the word “Rosh” used in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is a reference to “what we know today is Russia.” Dr. Hitchcock includes that Scripture references “Rosh” as a place “farthest north,” from which Hitchcock contends would geographically be the point furthest north of Israel, which he says would be modern-day Russia.
Bible prophecy teacher Hal Lindsey, author of The Late Great Planet Earth, recently reflected on the possible prophetic implications of Vladimir Putin’s violations of the Budapest Memorandum, emphasizing Putin’s use of strategic military activity, “In 2014, Russia stole Crimea from Ukraine – [which] gave the Russian military better access to the Black Sea.”
Lindsey, citing Ezekiel 38:1-2, likewise implied the possibility that the passage, including “Gog,” could be a reference to Vladimir Putin, observing, “It’s obvious from that passage and others that ‘Gog’ is not a nation, but a national leader.”
“Whatever Putin’s motivations,” considering Putin’s present provocation in amassing troops along Ukraine’s border, “one really important fact stands out,” says Lindey, writing that “[Putin’s] actions fit Bible prophecy to a tee. At some point in the future, Ukraine will again come under Russian control – and it may be only a matter of days.”
