Main content

Nukes for nothing: The deal that broke Ukraine's trust

An exploration of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, intended to enshrine Ukraine's security.

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

In 1994, Ukraine surrendered the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, inherited from the collapsed Soviet Union, in exchange for security assurances from the US, Russia, and the UK.

Ukraine’s denuclearisation is often considered a huge success story in nuclear non-proliferation, but in retrospect, it may have paved the way for Putin's 2022 invasion.

As talk of US-European security guarantees for Ukraine resurfaces in the context of tentative Russia-Ukraine peace talks, we speak with Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Paris correspondent Andrew Harding about the history of the 1994 agreement, and consider whether Ukraine would ever again believe promises made to protect it.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: Annie Brown

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: France's President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ludovic Marin/ Getty

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Tue 30 Dec 2025 01:32GMT

Featured

  • .

Broadcasts

  • Mon 29 Dec 2025 11:32GMT
  • Tue 30 Dec 2025 01:32GMT

Podcast