Live Up to the Budapest Agreement.

James R. Schlesinger Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy

Abstract

On December 5, 1994, leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation met in Budapest, Hungary, to pledge security assurances to Ukraine in connection with its accession to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear-weapons state. 

The signature of the so-called Budapest Memorandum concluded arduous negotiations that resulted in Ukraine’s agreement to relinquish the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, which the country inherited from the collapsed Soviet Union, and transfer all nuclear warheads to Russia for dismantlement. 

The signatories of the memorandum pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and inviolability of its borders, and to refrain from the use or threat of military force. 

Russia breached these commitments with its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and aggression in eastern Ukraine, bringing the meaning and value of security assurance pledged in the Memorandum under renewed scrutiny.

Citation

Budjeryn, Mariana, and Matthew Bunn. "Budapest Memorandum at 25: Between Past and Future." March 2020.

 AI Overview

The Budapest Memorandum, signed in 1994, involved Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, where Ukraine agreed to give up its inherited Soviet nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances.Russia's subsequent annexation of Crimea in 2014 and ongoing aggression in eastern Ukraine are widely seen as violations of these assurances.