In 1994, Kyiv gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for ”assurances” of territorial integrity and independence given by Russia, the United States, and Great Britain. In 1997, the Ukrainian government agreed to lease the naval base in Sevastopol to the Russian fleet in exchange for a treaty that recognized the inviolability of Ukrainian borders. It took the Russian parliament two years to ratify the treaty that formally recognized the Crimea and Sevastopol as integral parts of Ukrainian territory.
