The US-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Statement and Annex

Trilateral statement by the presidents of the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine - Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk, Moscow, Russia, January 14, 1994 - The Trip of President Clinton to Brussels, Prague, Kiev, Moscow, Minsk, and Geneva, January 9-16, 1994

Presidents Clinton, Yeltsin and Kravchuk met in Moscow on January 14. The three Presidents reiterated that they will deal with one another as full and equal partners and that relations among their countries must be conducted on the basis of respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of each nation.

The three Presidents agreed on the importance of developing mutually beneficial, comprehensive and cooperative economic relations. In this connection, they welcomed the intention of the United States to provide assistance to Ukraine and Russia to support the creation of effective market economies.

The three Presidents reviewed the progress that has been made in reducing nuclear forces. Deactivation of strategic forces is already well underway in the United States, Russia and Ukraine. The Presidents welcomed the ongoing deactivation of RS-18s (SS-19s) and RS-22s (SS-24s) on Ukrainian territory by having their warheads removed.

US Department of State Dispatch, January, 1994

The US-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Statement and Annex were signed on 14 January, 1994 in Moscow by Presidents Clinton, Yeltsin and Kravchuk. The Statement and Annex:

• provided for the transfer of all nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine to Russia for dismantlement;
• specified prompt compensation by Russia to Ukraine for the highly-enriched uranium in the transferred weapons;
• provided for security assurances by the US, Russia and United Kingdom to Ukraine on Ukraine's accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state; and
• reaffirmed the US commitment to assist the safe and secure dismantlement of nuclear forces through the Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar) program.

The provisions of the Trilateral Statement and Annex are being implemented. When they were signed, there were some 1900 strategic nuclear warheads in Ukraine, most of which were on SS-19 and SS-24 ICBMs targeted at the US. As of June 1, there are none. (In addition, in 1991-92, some 2500 tactical nuclear weapons were transferred from Ukraine to Russia.) There were far more nuclear warheads on the territory of Ukraine than in any country other than the United States or Russia.

Russia is dismantling the removed nuclear warheads and has provided Ukraine compensation for the strategic nuclear warheads in the form of fuel rods for civilian nuclear power plants in Ukraine. These fuel rods are being delivered according to a schedule agreed to by Russia and Ukraine.

On December 5, 1994, Ukraine acceded to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. On that same date, the US, Russia and United Kingdom provided security assurances to Ukraine, and the START I Treaty also entered into force.

The Trilateral Statement noted the US commitment of a minimum of $175 million in Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar) aid to Ukraine to assist denuclearization. As of the end of April 1996, the US had notified CTR obligations for Ukraine totaling almost $400 million, primarily for the elimination of strategic nuclear arms and nuclear infrastructure.

Removal of nuclear warheads from Ukraine, White House Fact Sheet, 1 June 1996