On 5 December 2020, we mark the 26th anniversary of signing the Budapest Memorandum on Providing Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Budapest Memorandum.

Having concluded this document with Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the Russian Federation reaffirmed their obligations to respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. France and the People’s Republic of China have provided the similar assurances in the separate letters.

However, the relevant obligations towards our country have not been fulfilled. The Russian Federation as one of the states-guarantors has flagrantly violated its obligations under the Memorandum and the basic principles of international law, by occupying the sovereign part of the territory of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol - and starting the armed conflict in the Donbas region.

Nowadays, Russia progressively militarizes the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, having transformed it into a powerful military base.  

Taking into consideration the strategic location of Crimea in the region, the potential deployment by Russia of nuclear weapons on its territory seriously compromises the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons regime and undermines the global security system in general. The international community must properly react to such actions.

Ukraine continues to consider the Budapest Memorandum as an important international political and legal base for ensuring Ukraine's security by the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France and the People’s Republic of China. Ukraine calls on the international community to increase its pressure on Russia to ensure it returns to the implementation of the Budapest Memorandum. Russia must fully comply with its commitments under this instrument. 

Ukraine highly appreciates actions of the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and France, which remain resolute in their support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and strengthen their support through practical assistance towards enhancing Ukraine's defense capabilities and implementation of sanction mechanisms against the aggressor state.