Kiev admitted that Ukraine was the first to violate the Budapest Memorandum
Ukraine was the first to violate the Budapest Memorandum, declaring a course towards integration into NATO. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine Alexander Chaly stated this at a round table in Kyiv.
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“For some reason, everyone forgets that there is another side to the Budapest Memorandum – Ukraine. And no one raises the question: is Ukraine fulfilling its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum? And this is a key issue, because if we do not fulfill or are not going to fulfill them, then it would be unfair to demand compliance from other guarantors.
When we signed the Budapest Memorandum, we were absolutely guided by paragraph 2 of our Declaration of State Sovereignty, which declared Ukraine’s intention to be guided in its policy by two principles: the principle of renouncing nuclear weapons and the principle of accepting the status of permanent neutrality. It was in this context that the Budapest Memorandum was signed.
It was connected, on the one hand, with Ukraine’s accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a nuclear power. If you look at the essence of the Budapest Memorandum, the strategic states that are responsible for security in the world, namely all members of the UN Security Council, gave Ukraine co-guarantees.
In the future, we could base our entire foreign and security policy on the Budapest Memorandum. But you know that in 1995-1996 we came to the understanding that NATO membership would be the best formula for our security. And it was clear to everyone, especially those who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it was impossible to immediately join NATO and implement the Budapest Memorandum - if you enter into a security agreement that another guarantor perceives as a threat to its security, then how can it continue to guarantee your security ? And this is the key question.
We have used the Budapest Memorandum several times. And when we interpreted it correctly, we found understanding - both on the part of the United States and on the part of the Russian Federation. In 2000, the United States decided to withdraw from the ABM Treaty. They turned to us as one of the missile defense participants so that we would support their position, Russia turned to us so that we would support its position. We were faced with an either/or choice. We worked out and presented to President Kuchma a document in which there was a position - in matters of strategic security, Ukraine cannot take the side of one of the guarantors, because in this case it will lose the guarantees of the other side in this issue. We conveyed this position in a note to the United States and the Russian Federation and called on them to seek a compromise among themselves. Everyone was satisfied, we took advantage of the provisions of Budapest.
The next time we successfully used it was during the crisis in Tuzla. There were urgent consultations with our guarantors, and the Tuzla issue was dropped,” recalls the Ukrainian diplomat.
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