The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
Edit post

Clinton regrets persuading Ukraine to denuclearize in 1994

by Anastasiya Gordiychuk April 5, 2023 1:04 AM 2 min read
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks during an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said in an interview with RTÉ that he regrets persuading Ukraine to give up its nuclear arsenal.

“I feel a personal stake because I got them (Ukraine) to agree to give up their nuclear weapons. And none of them believe that Russia would have pulled this stunt if Ukraine still had their weapons,” he said.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became the world’s third-largest nuclear power. But in 1994, after the talks between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine, Clinton announced that Ukraine agreed to remove nuclear weapons from its territory.

In 1994, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Budapest Memorandum under which Ukraine agreed to remove all nuclear weapons from its soil in exchange for security guarantees from the signatories – the U.S., the U.K., and Russia.

“I knew that President Putin did not support the agreement (Former Russian) President Yeltsin made never to interfere with Ukraine’s territorial boundaries – an agreement he made because he wanted Ukraine to give up their nuclear weapons,” Clinton said, as quoted by RTÉ.

“They (Ukraine) were afraid to give them up because they thought that’s the only thing that protected them from an expansionist Russia.”

In February 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, violating the Budapest Memorandum, among other agreements.

“When it became convenient to him, President Putin broke it and first took Crimea. And I feel terrible about it because Ukraine is a very important country,” Clinton said.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea
Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in February 2014 amid the deadliest days of the EuroMaidan Revolution that eventually ousted pro-Russian ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. While Yanukovych’s pro-Russian regime was murdering protesters in downtown Kyiv, around 30,000 Russian troops crossed i…

News Feed

8:06 AM  (Updated: )

Zelensky visits South Africa but cuts trip short after mass Russian strike.

"We count on South Africa’s meaningful participation in the International Coalition for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We will also certainly strengthen our cultural and educational ties," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
5:30 AM

Trump says he may meet Putin 'shortly' after May Middle East visit.

Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.
8:08 PM

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.
7:21 PM  (Updated: )

Trump says 'nobody is asking' Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian.

"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" U.S. President Donald Trump wrote.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.