The Day the Budapest Memorandum Was Signed, in Photos
This December 5th marks the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum—an agreement meant to provide security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for its decision to give up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal.
The path to this agreement began on January 14, 1994, when the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia signed a trilateral statement to remove all nuclear weapons from Ukrainian territory. This eventually led to the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on December 5, 1994, by Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. France and China, while not signatories, issued separate statements supporting the security assurances provided to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
At its core, the memorandum required the signatories to respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and borders—principles that Russia has since violated. A key condition of the agreement was that nuclear powers would never use nuclear weapons against Ukraine—a condition Russia threatens to violate.
“Russia’s violation of the Budapest Memorandum set a dangerous precedent that undermined confidence in the very idea of nuclear disarmament,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stated.
The signing of the Budapest Memorandum, how it was:
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) Summit in Budapest. It was here that the CSCE became OSCE, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. From left to right: American President Bill Clinton, president of the European Commission Jacques Delors, and chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl. (Photo by THIERRY ORBAN/Sygma via Getty Images)
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, comprising three nearly identical political agreements, signed at the conference. US President Bill Clinton signing the final agreement. (Photo by THIERRY ORBAN/Sygma via Getty Images)
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: General view of the final signing of the agreements. From left to right (at the table): Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, US President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. (Photo by David Brauchli/Sygma via Getty Images)
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: Russian President Boris Yeltsin (L) and US President Bill Clinton (R) sign the agreement. (Photo by David Brauchli/Sygma via Getty Images)
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister John Major, both signatories to the Budapest memorandum. (Photo by David Brauchli/Sygma via Getty Images)
Budapest, Hungary, December 5, 1994: CSCE Summit in Budapest. Group photo. (Photo by THIERRY ORBAN/Sygma via Getty Images)
-46f6afa2f66d31ff3df8ea1a8f5524ec.jpg "Jess Daly")
-8fa6e3ef5d8b8d9bbdf8541be739c77a.jpg)
-b9cc1a321ffad6f7bba849085bfc4808.jpg)
