Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sees NATO membership as only security guarantee for Ukraine

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said this in a statement on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukrinform reports.

"The 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum is a convenient opportunity to take an effective step towards Ukraine's accession to the Washington Treaty," the statement read.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recalled that 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-largest nuclear arsenal.

However, the Budapest Memorandum failed to prevent the aggression of the Russian Federation, as a nuclear-weapon state, against Ukraine, as a state that has renounced its nuclear arsenal.

"Even the consultations envisaged by the document, which Ukraine has repeatedly tried to initiate, were not held," the statement said.

It added that today, the Budapest Memorandum is "a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry emphasized that not providing Ukraine with real, effective security guarantees in the 1990s was a strategic mistake that Moscow exploited.

"This mistake must be corrected. Ukraine must be provided with clear, legally binding security guarantees that align with its significant contribution to global nuclear disarmament and the maintenance of international peace and security. We call on the United States and the United Kingdom, signatories to the Budapest Memorandum, France and China, which have acceded to it, and all states-parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to support the provision of effective security guarantees to Ukraine," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

It added that the only real security guarantee for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO.

"With the bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum behind us, we will not accept any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for Ukraine's full membership in NATO. Inviting Ukraine to join NATO now will become an effective counter to Russian blackmail and will deprive the Kremlin of its illusions about the possibility of hindering Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. It is also the only chance to stop the erosion of key principles of nuclear non-proliferation and restore confidence in nuclear disarmament," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

December 5, 2024, marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Budapest Memorandum.