Ukraine officially rejects security guarantees other than NATO membership

Kyiv has officially rejected security guarantees that substitute NATO membership, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, marking the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum signing.

“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,” the statement reads.

Russia’s violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum has set “a dangerous precedent that undermined confidence in the very idea of nuclear disarmament”, the ministry said. 

Ukraine had the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal when it agreed to relinquish them with signed agreements for security guarantees from the U.S., Britain and Russia. China and France would also later added their signatures to the memorandum. 

The failure to uphold these commitments has led to a significant rise in security threats, not only to Ukraine but also to other countries and regions, the statement added.

“Today, the Budapest Memorandum is a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making,” the ministry states.

The lack of real, effective security guarantees for Ukraine in the 1990s was a strategic error that Moscow has exploited. 

“This mistake must be corrected,” the ministry asserts.

The only true security guarantee for Ukraine, and the only deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other countries, 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,” the ministry emphasizes.

At the same time, Reuters reports, citing sources, that NATO has yet to reach a consensus on extending an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance at the Dec. 3-4 meeting.