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
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- Mon 29 Dec 2025 11:32GMTÄ¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ World Service & Live News
- Tue 30 Dec 2025 01:32GMTÄ¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ World Service & Live News
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