U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine negotiations Ambassador Kurt Volker says the Russian Federation rejected the idea of holding a meeting within the framework of the Budapest Memorandum to discuss Ukraine and the issue of restoring its territorial integrity.
In an interview with the Den newspaper, Volker confirmed that Washington had supported the idea of convening such meeting but it was Russia who shunned from it.
Volker went on to call Russia the only state that has violated the Budapest Memorandum, defying the forum designed to resolve such situations should they arise.
The Ambassador underlined that Russia's move illustrated that the problem did not lay with the forum – it was about Russia's unwillingness to end the conflict and take responsibility for their actions.
He called on international partners to focus in order to make Russia come to the point where the Kremlin would be willing to restore peace and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
