Nearly three decades ago, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan agreed to give up the nuclear arsenals they had inherited from the Soviet Union, turning them over to Russia.
In exchange, these newly independent states received vague security “assurances” from the United States and Great Britain. As part of the agreement, Russia also pledged to respect the signatories existing borders, independence and sovereignty – and to refrain from economic coercion against them. Well, we all know how all that worked out.
In many quarters, most notably Ukraine, the December 1994 Budapest Memorandum has not aged well to say the least. Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many say the memorandum is not worth the paper it is printed on. But what was the thinking and logic of the leaders who brokered and pushed for this highly consequential agreement? And what is its legacy today?
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with George Bogden, an Olin Fellow at the Columbia University School of Law, a visiting researcher at Bard College, and author of a forthcoming book on the Budapest memorandum based on never-before-released archival files. Enjoy…
SHOW NOTES
George Bogden’s article, “Deceit, Dread, and Disbelief: The Story of How Ukraine Lost Its Nuclear Arsenal,” which was discussed in the episode, can be accessed here. His interview with The Wilson Center about the Budapest Memorandum can be accessed here. And his other published works can be accessed here, here, here, and here.