Budapest Memorandum — international treaty of Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom
Secured nuclear disarmament of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the US, and the UK.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 5 December 1994
- Signing venue
- Patria Hall, Budapest Congress Center
- Nuclear states covered
- Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan
- Original signatories
- Ukraine, Russia, United States, United Kingdom
- Nuclear disarmament period
- 1993–1996
- Russia violations
- Crimea annexation 2014; full invasion of Ukraine 2022
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine inherited large nuclear arsenals. International efforts sought to consolidate nuclear weapons under fewer states and bring these three countries into the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, requiring credible security guarantees in return for relinquishing their weapons.
On 5 December 1994, four nuclear powers — Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom — signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances at the CSCE summit in Budapest. The signatories pledged not to threaten or use military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, except in self-defence or in accordance with the UN Charter.
Between 1993 and 1996, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine transferred or dismantled their nuclear arsenals. Russia subsequently violated the memorandum by annexing Crimea in 2014 and invading Ukraine in 2022. In response, the United States, United Kingdom, and France supplied Ukraine with financial and military aid and imposed economic sanctions on Russia, while avoiding direct military confrontation.
Political Outcome
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine acceded to the NPT and relinquished their nuclear weapons; Russia later violated the agreement through military action against Ukraine.
Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan held inherited Soviet nuclear weapons outside NPT framework
All three states joined the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon states and surrendered their arsenals