Foreign
Bill Clinton regrets persuading Ukraine to give Russia all its nuclear weapons in 1994
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has stated he regrets persuading Ukraine to give up its nuclear arsenal.
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.
In February 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, violating the Budapest Memorandum, among other agreements. In February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine again this time aiming to topple the Volodimir Zelenskyy government, but have failed so far.
Speaking in an interview with RTÉ, Clinton says Russia won’t have invaded Ukraine if they had nuclear weapons
“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.
“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.”
“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.
Follow us on social media:
“The quality of a woman isn’t measured by the hair on her head but by her brain” – Yul Edochie cautions ladies against killing themselves over expensive hair this Christmas
President Tinubu cancels Lagos engagements in honor of food stampede victims
Moment stage collapses on Odumodublvck during concert performance (Video)
Goods worth millions of naira destroyed as fire guts spare parts market in Ibadan
Farmer k!lled, three siblings and one other severely injured as bomb explosions rock Niger state community
Video trends as Nigerian lady transforms face into Jesus Christ with makeup (Watch)
Lady swaps old woman’s ATM card while pretending to help, steals N2M
“The money wey dem pay me don expire” – Moment Burna Boy stops his performance at the Oando PLC end of the year party (Video)
-
Celebrity Gossip & Gist1 day ago“The money wey dem pay me don expire” – Moment Burna Boy stops his performance at the Oando PLC end of the year party (Video)
-
Economy1 day agoGoods worth millions of naira destroyed as fire guts spare parts market in Ibadan
-
Celebrity Gossip & Gist10 hours agoMoment stage collapses on Odumodublvck during concert performance (Video)
-
Economy9 hours agoPresident Tinubu cancels Lagos engagements in honor of food stampede victims