Russia has begun a massive military campaign against Ukraine. There are threats that have been released by Russia that they may use nuclear weapons. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, called the act a “full-scale invasion on Ukraine.” The Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa all experienced loud explosions.
As Ukraine fights overwhelming Russian armed forces, its leaders have expressed remorse over giving up nuclear weapons, which they say may have prevented Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading their nation.
When did Ukraine relinquish control of its nuclear weapons?
Ukraine possessed the world’s third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons when it gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Things changed in 1994 when the country joined Belarus and Kazakhstan as signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the other two countries left with nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union fell apart.
According to the Arms Control Association of the United States, Ukraine had 1,900 strategic warheads, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and 44 strategic bombers at the time of the Soviet Union’s breakup.
What is the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) of 1991?
In 1991, former US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a bilateral agreement. It restricted the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear warheads that countries might acquire. When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the treaty went through a period of upheaval, casting doubt on its legality. In 1992, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus signed a document recognizing them as “successor states” to the Soviet Union in Lisbon.
The successor states were required to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as soon as possible, and nuclear weapons were to be under the control of a “single unified authority” until then.
Following the Lisbon Protocol, disagreements between Russia and Ukraine over the latter’s status as a nuclear state surfaced, creating nuclear disarmament worries. Ukraine endorsed Start in February 1994, when it signed the Trilateral Statement with the US and Russia after lengthy political maneuvering. Ukraine agreed to complete nuclear disarmament in exchange for financial compensation and security guarantees.
The government had agreed to hand over its warheads to Russia to be disassembled in exchange for reimbursement for the commercial worth of its highly enriched uranium and had accepted financial assistance from the US to remove missiles, bombers, and nuclear facilities.
In 1996, Ukraine handed over its last nuclear warhead to Russia, and in 2001, it decommissioned its last strategic nuclear delivery vehicle.
What is the Budapest Memorandum, and why is it important?
A political agreement involving Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is known as the Budapest Memorandum of Security Assurances. In 1994, it was signed.
Signatories Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom pledged to respect Ukraine’s “independence, sovereignty, and existing boundaries” after the country decided to give up its nuclear stockpile, according to the memorandum. Ukraine also received assurances that its territorial integrity and political independence would be preserved and that the signatories would not use economic coercion against Ukraine for their own gain.
Was the invasion of Crimea in 2014 a breach of the Budapest Accords?
In March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, a region of Ukraine, as its own territory. Governments all throughout the world condemned the move, calling it a flagrant violation of the Budapest Memorandum of 1994. The Russian government, on the other hand, disputed the claim and defended itself by questioning the legitimacy of Kyiv’s leadership. As Ukraine fights overwhelming Russian armed forces, its leaders have expressed remorse over giving up nuclear weapons, which they say may have prevented Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading their nation.
Ukraine ratified the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in February 1994, after lengthy political maneuvering, when it signed the Trilateral Statement with the US and Russia. Ukraine agreed to complete nuclear disarmament in exchange for financial compensation and security guarantees.
In 1996, Ukraine handed over its last nuclear warhead to Russia, and in 2001, it decommissioned its last strategic nuclear delivery vehicle.