Ukraine's Nuclear Disarmament: A Historic Milestone.

Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s in exchange for financial assistance, legitimacy as a new state, fear of retaliation from Russia, technical problems with managing and controlling the nuclear weapons on its territory, and security assurances. The Budapest Memorandum committed the U.S., U.K., and Russia to “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.” However, since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, many have questioned if Ukraine made a mistake in giving up its nuclear weapons and if the West was wrong to demand that Ukraine do so.