With the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum approaching on December 5, 2024, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the document's failure to provide adequate security guarantees, despite its original intent to ensure Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons.
"This document was supposed to provide Ukraine with guarantees of security, sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for giving up the world's third largest nuclear arsenal," the Ukrainian diplomacy stated.
The agreement collapsed when Russia, a signatory, launched its aggression against Ukraine in 2014, and "even the consultations envisaged by the document, which Ukraine has repeatedly tried to initiate, were not held."
Ukraine now asserts that the only real security guarantee is full NATO membership, which would protect against further Russian aggression and restore confidence in the global security system.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the failure to provide Ukraine with effective security guarantees in the 1990s was a strategic mistake that Russia has exploited, and this situation must now be corrected.
The country calls on the United States and the United Kingdom, signatories to the Budapest Memorandum, along with other nations, to support providing Ukraine with clear, legally binding security guarantees.
Ukraine believes that full membership in NATO is the only real security guarantee, deterring further Russian aggression and preventing the Kremlin from hindering its Euro-Atlantic integration.
The 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum is seen as a key opportunity for the U.S. and the UK to act and invite Ukraine to join NATO, restoring confidence in nuclear disarmament and countering Russian blackmail.
Ukraine stated that unity is essential to achieve a future of lasting peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic region, emphasizing that its NATO membership is the only genuine safeguard against Russian aggression, both toward Ukraine and other nations.
Source: MFA.gov.ua/X/@MFA_Ukraine
(m p)