[silverleaf]

Ukraine agreed to give up its nukes in return for security assurances from Russia, the US and the UK. From wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Ukraine
"When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the newly independent Ukraine had on its territory what was the third largest strategic nuclear weapons arsenal in the world. It was larger than those of Britain, France, and China combined. On June 1, 1996 Ukraine became a non-nuclear nation when it sent the last of its 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads to Russia for dismantling.

The first shipment of nuclear weapons from Ukraine to Russia (by train) was in March 1994. In return for giving up its nuclear weapons, Ukraine, the United States of America, Russia, and the United Kingdom signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, pledging to respect Ukraine territorial integrity, a pledge that was arguably broken by Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea."


Waiting today for the press to ask Susan Rice, Jon Kerry, Bubba and Hillary how that "Budapest Agreement" thing is working out ..... and how we intend to honor our part of that treaty

[houeto]

and how we intend to honor our part of that treaty

The U.S. Senate soundly rejected that agreement. We have no treaty with Ukraine in that regard.