Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States extended security assurances
to Ukraine in December 1994 in an agreement that became known as the
Budapest Memorandum. This agreement was part of a package of arrangements
whereby Ukraine transferred the Soviet-made nuclear weapons on its territory to
Russia and acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
(NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS). Russia’s violations of the Budapest
Memorandum, notably its annexation of Crimea, could have far-reaching implications
for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament because of the questions
that Russia’s behaviour has raised about the reliability of major-power security
assurances for NNWS parties to the NPT. Doubts about …read more
Source: Chatham House
