This week, 5 December 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.

This document 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. The Memorandum was to become a significant step in strengthening global nuclear disarmament and serve as an example for other states to give up nuclear weapons.

However, in 2014, the Russian Federation, which was one of the guarantors of Ukraine's security under the Budapest Memorandum, blatantly disregarded this document and international law in general and launched its aggression against Ukraine, which escalated into a full-scale invasion in 2022. These actions are a clear violation of international law, in particular, the UN Charter, which obliges states to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries and is based on the principle of non-use or threat of force.

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.

Russia's violation of the Budapest Memorandum set a dangerous precedent that undermined confidence in the very idea of nuclear disarmament. Instead, we see active attempts by various countries from the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East to the Euro-Atlantic area to create or expand their existing nuclear arsenals.

Failure of the Budapest Memorandum to fulfil its functions has led to a catastrophic increase in security threats not only for Ukraine, but also for other countries and regions, including Europe, the Euro-Atlantic area, Central and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and international peace and security in general.

Today, the Budapest Memorandum is a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making. It should serve as a reminder to the current leaders of the Euro-Atlantic community that building a European security architecture at the expense of Ukraine's interests, rather than taking them into consideration, is destined to failure.

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. 

We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security 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 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.