The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine released a statement on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum two days before the anniversary of the signing of the document on December 5. This memorandum became a bitter experience for Ukraine.
Points of attention
- The Budapest Memorandum was supposed to guarantee Ukraine security and territorial integrity, but after Russia violated it, it became an example of short-sightedness in making strategic decisions.
- Ukraine insists on full membership in NATO as a guarantee of security and protection against aggression.
- The 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum encourages Ukraine to take effective steps towards joining NATO and the Washington Treaty.
- Ukraine's security depends on clear and legally binding guarantees, which are NATO membership.
- Ukraine calls on NATO to issue an official invitation to join during the Ukraine-NATO Council to ensure its security and sovereignty.
Ukraine rejects any alternatives to joining NATO after the Budapest Memorandum
As noted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Budapest Memorandum was supposed to provide Ukraine with guarantees of security, sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for giving up the world's third most powerful nuclear arsenal. The memorandum was supposed to be a significant step in strengthening global nuclear disarmament and serve as an example for other states to abandon nuclear weapons.
However, Russia, being one of the guarantors of Ukraine's security, neglected the document and international law in general.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the Budapest memorandum became a monument of short-sightedness in making strategic security decisions. The Ministry believes that it should be an example to NATO countries that the development of the security architecture at the expense of Ukraine's interests, and not taking them into account, is doomed to failure.
The agency emphasizes that the historical mistake must be corrected, and Ukraine must receive clear, legally binding security guarantees.
Ukraine appeals to the United States and Great Britain, which signed the Budapest Memorandum, to France and China, which joined it, to all the member states of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with a call to support the provision of effective security guarantees to Ukraine. Ukraine believes that full NATO membership is such a guarantee.
The ministry added that the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum is a good opportunity to take an effective step towards joining Ukraine to the Washington Treaty.
What preceded it
December 5, 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum on Security Guarantees in Connection with Ukraine's Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Budapest Memorandum.
On December 3, the Ukraine-NATO Council will be held in Brussels. Ukraine calls on the Alliance to officially issue an invitation to join.