Category Treaties & agreements

Did Ukraine Give Up Nukes for Russia, U.S. Security Guarantees?

The Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994, resulted in Ukraine voluntarily handing over its nuclear arsenal, as well as other military stocks and munitions, to Russia.

In exchange, Moscow vowed to respect Ukraine's sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

The U.S. and the U.K. were among the co-signatories, but stopped short of providing "guarantees" (which would have entailed a direct military intervention) and instead offered "assurances," a term that left some wiggle room for a response to potential aggression from Moscow.

December 7, 2022
Aid to Ukraine Fact checks / debunkings Russia Treaties & agreements Ukraine USA

No, Ukraine does not have nuclear bombs or “dirty bombs”

Ukraine does not have a nuclear bomb or a "dirty bomb," according to experts and watchdogs.

The country used to have Soviet-era nuclear weapons but returned them to Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Ukraine also dismantled or destroyed its nuclear missiles and silos. Its nuclear materials are now used for peaceful purposes.

Experts and watchdogs say Ukraine has neither a nuclear bomb nor a "dirty bomb." Ukraine used to have nuclear weapons but it transferred them to Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed and dismantled or destroyed its nuclear missiles and silos. The nation's nuclear materials are now used for peaceful purposes.

We rate the post False.

October 27, 2022
Context Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Manipulation: Ukrainians are “Tired of War” and Beg the Government to Negotiate

The petition on the Ukrainian President's website calling to resume the negotiation process with Russia does not reflect Ukrainian public opinion. Despite a certain degree of fatigue and constant attacks by Russia, Ukrainians remain united in their determination not to make any concessions to the aggressor. According to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll conducted between July 6 and July 20, 84% of Ukrainians are not ready to make territorial concessions in order to end the war.

July 28, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Fake: NATO Chief says Alliance Preparing for War with Russia for Eight Years

Jens Stoltenberg has never said anything about any eight-year preparation for war with Russia, nor about NATO's plans to "attack" Russia. The NATO Secretary General talked about the foundations of European security, which the Kremlin undermined in 2014 by occupying Ukrainian Crimea and seizing parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

July 11, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings International community NATO Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements

Fake: Politico: West Wants Urgent Peace Treaty with Russia Because Ukraine Is In for…

The Politico newspaper, which Russian media claims published a story about an imminent peace treaty between the West and the Russian Federation, does not have a single article on this topic. Quite the contrary, the publication quotes many Western politicians who say that the United States and the European Union are committed to long-term support for Ukraine and do not see a possible to end the war in the near future.

Fake: EU May Deport Ukrainians for Military Mobilization in Ukraine

Ukrainian citizens cannot be deported as they entered the European Union legally, forced into the move because of Russia's invasion.

Fact-checking Putin’s Victory Day speech

A nuclear threat from Ukraine? A Ukrainian invasion of Crimea? Ukrainian neo-Nazis? Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 9 speech contained new and familiar accusations amid the war in Ukraine. Most of them are false.

May 9, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings International community NATO Putin Russia Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Fake: Borrell for Resolving Conflict in Ukraine Militarily

Josep Borrell is proposing tougher sanctions to pressure Russia to stop its war crimes in Ukraine. He sees increased weapons supplies to Ukraine as a way of helping Kyiv protect its territory and its people from Russian army attacks and notes that Ukraine will definitely prevail.

Fake: Ukraine Revokes the Geneva Convention

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko refuted these Russian media claims saying they were not only fake, but also intended to undermine Ukraine's cooperation with international organizations. In a Facebook post Nikolenko wrote: "This fake aims to discredit Ukraine's relations with international humanitarian organizations who are saving victims of Russian aggression and trying to return deported and captured persons home". Nikolenko assured, that despite countless Russian fakes, Ukraine remains committed to its international obligations withing the framework of international law.

April 7, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings Faked news reports Methods Russia Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Fact-checking claims that NATO, US broke agreement against alliance expanding eastward

No legal agreement prohibits NATO from expanding eastward.

Russians have argued that comments made by U.S. and other Western leaders during the negotiations over the reunification of Germany constituted a promise that NATO would not extend beyond then-East Germany. Those allegations have sparked decades of debate amongst those involved in the events, and scholars studying them.

Even scholars who say they believe western powers did offer the Soviet Union assurances about NATO expansion say Owens' claim is misleading.

Our ruling
Owens said, "NATO (under direction from the United States) is violating previous agreements and expanding eastward."

There is an ongoing historical debate over comments that Western leaders, including Baker, made during post-Cold War negotiations, and whether what they said amounted to assurances that NATO would refrain from welcoming in countries closer to modern-day Russia.

But NATO as an organization made no such pledge, and the formal agreement signed at the end of those negotiations said nothing about the alliance not expanding eastward.

We rate this claim Mostly False.