There was absolutely no way for Ukraine to keep the nukes, not only because both the West and the East/Russia were against it but more importantly, the powers that be in Ukraine had other plans.

Also, I wouldn't comment on a fait accompli unless doing so pointed to information important for understanding today's realities.

Tell it to the people caterwauling about the budapest memorandum, not me.

>it's extremely obvious that handing back the Soviet nukes they had possession of was a mistake.

It's the furthest possible thing from obvious. Ukraine couldn't maintain the weapons and was in desperate need of economic assistance it would never have gotten if it kept the nukes.

Moreover, if they tried to keep them Russia would likely just have taken them or rendered them unusable by force and we likely would have supported that.