The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine appealed to the signatory countries of the Budapest Memorandum demanding urgent consultations to ensure full compliance with the obligations taken up and to immediately end Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
In a statement handed over to UNIAN, the Foreign Ministry recalls that 24 years ago, Ukraine abandoned nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, which were sealed by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Russian Federation in the Budapest memorandum in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In particular, the said parties pledged to refrain from applying the threat of force or the use of force against Ukraine's territorial integrity or political independence. The guarantor states have pledged that no weapon of theirs will ever be used against Ukraine. It is these guarantees that made it possible for the Verkhovna Rada to adopt the law on NPT ratification.
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On November 25 of this year, Russia carried out another act of armed aggression against Ukraine – an armed attack on the naval vessels in the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait. "This brazen and insidious attack is a continuation of the armed aggression against Ukraine launched by the Russian Federation on February 20, 2014," the Foreign Ministry stressed.
Ukraine has always considered the Budapest Memorandum an important international instrument for ensuring the security of Ukraine, and demands that Russia fully comply with its obligations, the authors of the statement noted.
The Foreign Ministry said that Russian aggression and violation of the conditions for Ukraine’s refusal from nuclear weapons undermines the international non-proliferation regime and will determine the future of relations with countries that may choose to develop this type of weapons.
Therefore, on November 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, based on Clause 6 of the Budapest Memorandum, requested that signatory states hold urgent consultations.
