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Secretary Kerry Addresses the Budapest Memorandum Ministerial on the Ukraine Crisis (12950337274)-by U.S. Department of State-

10 Facts about the Memorandum of Budapest

In December 1994, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom signed a diplomatic document known as the “Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.”It is not a formal treaty; rather, it is an agreement between diplomats that was established as part of the denuclearization of former Soviet republics following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In accordance with the memorandum, Ukraine agreed to remove all nuclear weapons from its soil, transfer them to Russian disarmament facilities, and ratify the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. These pledges were kept by Ukraine. In exchange, Russia and the Western signatory nations implicitly sanctified Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as a sovereign nation. They achieved this by applying to an independent post-Soviet Ukraine the territorial integrity and nonintervention tenets of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, a Cold War-era pact signed by 35 states, among them the Soviet Union.

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1. Budapest Memorandum is a collection of three documents signed by three former Soviet republics and three guaranteeing countries

Budapest-memorandum-signatures-by Armduino-

In accordance with the three memoranda, Russia, the US, and the UK acknowledged that Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine had officially renounced their nuclear arsenals to Russia by becoming a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. They also agreed to the following:

. Respect the independence and sovereignty of the signatory within its current borders.

. Avoid threatening or physically harming the signing.

. Avoid using economic pressure as a means of preventing the signatory from exercising rights derived from its sovereignty and obtaining benefits of any kind.

. To support the signatory if they “should become the victim of an act of aggression or the target of an aggressive threat in which nuclear weapons are utilized,” the Security Council shall take quick action.

. Avoid using nuclear weapons against the signatory.

. If there are any issues about such obligations, consult with one another.

2. The signatories of the agreement provided “security assurances” to Ukraine in return for its adherence to the Treaty

The signatories of the agreement provided “security assurances” to Ukraine in return for its adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The memorandum collected a number of guarantees that Ukraine already had under the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) Final Act, the United Nations Charter, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but the Ukrainian government thought it was important to have these guarantees in a document that was specifically for Ukraine.

3. Prior to ratifying the START I treaty, Russia, the United States, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol

The Lisbon Protocol to the START I treaty was signed on May 23, 1992, by the United States, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. By signing the treaty, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine agreed to join the NPT as nuclear weapons-free states as soon as practicable. Although the arrangements for the transfer of the nuclear weapons were not agreed upon, some Ukrainian officials and lawmakers began to explore the prospect of keeping some of the contemporary RT-23 (SS-24) missiles and Soviet-built warheads.

4. The Budapest Memorandum will have been in effect for 28 years on December 5th

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia-by State dept-

The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances is a collection of three nearly identical political agreements that were signed on December 5, 1994, at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary, to provide security guarantees by its signatories regarding Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine’s entry into the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Originally, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States—three nuclear powers—signed the three memos. In separate documents, China and France provided pledges that were a little weaker individually.

5. Russian commitments in that document have been flagrantly broken

Solidarity with Ukraine (51912059004)-by Alisdare Hickson-

Russian military invaded or surrounded a number of airports and other important locations in Crimea in February 2014. Russia broke the Budapest Memorandum since the forces were part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed in Crimea. While confirming the movement of armored units associated with the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted that they were acting in accordance with the different agreements between the two nations. The Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea territories were temporarily seized as a result of Russian military intervention in 2014. On April 20, 2016, Ukraine established the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories to oversee these areas. When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Russia again subsequently broke the terms of this treaty.

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6. The Budapest Memorandum does not, according to the Ukrainian President offer a meaningful guarantee of safety 

In his public remarks on the Budapest Memorandum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that because of Russia’s coercive strength, it offers no real assurance of protection. Zelenskyy remarked during a lecture at the Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2022, that “Ukraine has made three attempts since 2014 to have talks with the US and UK the Budapest Memorandum’s guarantor states but without success.

7. Ukraine had the third-largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world before giving up the Soviet nuclear weapons

Transport container for RT-23-warheads-by Vladimir Zinin-

Up until they were removed, Ukraine held the third-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, over which it had physical possession but no operational authority. Through electronic Permissive Action Links and the Russian command and control system, Russia maintained control over the codes required to operate the nuclear weapons, however, this was not a significant barrier to Ukrainian access.  Formally, the Commonwealth of Independent States was in charge of these weapons.  Belarus only possessed mobile missile launchers, and Kazakhstan had made the hasty decision to hand over its missiles and nuclear warheads to Russia. Ukraine underwent a period of internal deliberation on its strategy.

8. Although the Budapest Memorandum was negotiated on a political level, it is unclear whether it contains any legal requirements

Although it makes reference to assurances, it does not obligate its parties in any way legally to provide military support. Professor of international relations Stephen MacFarlane asserts that although the agreement gives signatories legitimacy if they take action, it does not compel anyone to engage in Ukraine. Because neither the George H. W. Bush administration nor the Clinton administration in the US was ready to commit troops to Ukraine and because they didn’t think the US Senate would approve a treaty with another country, the memorandum was adopted with fewer restrictions. The US claims that the Memorandum is not legally binding, referring to it as a “political commitment.”

9. Separate documents from China and France provide slightly less firm individual guarantees

Separate documents from China and France provided Ukraine with security guarantees. In a statement released on December 4th, 1994, the Chinese government simply called for “fair discussions,” not forced consultations in the event of questions. Consultations were not mentioned in the announcement issued by France on December 5th, 1994. 

10. Experts believed that Ukraine’s decision to sign the Budapest Memorandum was evidence of the country’s progress toward democracy

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia after the Budapest Memorandum Ministerial in Pari-by State dept-

At the time, academics believed that Ukraine’s choice to sign the Budapest Memorandum was evidence of its maturation as a democracy, as well as of its intention to leave the post-Soviet world and take its first steps toward a future in Europe. Prior to the Russian military occupation of parts of Ukraine in 2014, which lasted 20 years, the disarmament of Ukraine’s nuclear weapons served as a model for nuclear non-proliferation.

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