It’s official: Ukraine declares its rejection of any security guarantees except for NATO membership
3 December 2024 09:33
Ukraine will not accept any alternatives to full membership in NATO as a guarantee of its security. This was stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in an address on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Failure of the Budapest Memorandum guarantees
The Budapest Memorandum, signed on December 5, 1994, guaranteed Ukraine the protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for giving up the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal. However, this document failed to prevent Russian aggression, which began in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale invasion in 2022, the Foreign Ministry said.
“The Budapest Memorandum failed to fulfill its main function – to guarantee Ukraine’s security. Not even the consultations provided for in the document, which our state has repeatedly tried to initiate, were held,”
– the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry emphasizes that this has become an example of a dangerous precedent that has undermined confidence in the international safeguards system and encouraged other countries to reconsider their positions on nuclear disarmament.
Only NATO membership is a real guarantee
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clearly stated that no alternatives to Ukraine’s full membership in NATO are acceptable.
“Having 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 text reads.
The ministry called on the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and other countries party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to support Ukraine on its path to NATO, as this is the only way to guarantee its security.
“Inviting Ukraine to join NATO now will be an effective counteraction to Russian blackmail and will deprive the Kremlin of illusions about the possibility of hindering Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration,”
– the statement reads.
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Lessons for the world
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also emphasized the global consequences of the failure of the Budapest Memorandum. The absence of effective security guarantees has set a dangerous precedent that stimulates a nuclear arms race in different regions of the world.
“The 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum is an opportunity for the international community to correct a strategic mistake. The only real guarantee of security for Ukraine and a deterrent to further Russian aggression is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,”
– the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes.
This message is a clear signal to world leaders: security guarantees that are not backed by real actions no longer work. Ukraine needs concrete mechanisms of protection, and the way to do this is through integration into the Euro-Atlantic security system.
The Budapest Memorandum
The Budapest Memorandum is an international agreement signed on December 5, 1994, between Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. As part of the document, Ukraine voluntarily gave up the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, inherited from the USSR, and joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In return, the signatories pledged to guarantee its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security.
The memorandum provided for the guarantors to refrain from the threat or use of force against Ukraine, as well as a promise to respect its independence and borders. However, in 2014, Russia, which was one of the guarantors, violated these obligations by annexing Crimea and starting a war in Donbas. This called into question the effectiveness of the document as a security mechanism.
Failure to implement the Budapest Memorandum set a dangerous precedent that undermined the idea of nuclear disarmament. The document did not provide for any real mechanisms to enforce compliance, and Ukraine’s attempts to initiate consultations with the guarantors failed. Today, the memorandum is considered, at least in Ukraine, a symbol of the failure of international commitments and the weakness of security guarantees.
NATO-Ukraine relations
Relations between Ukraine and NATO began shortly after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. In 1994, Ukraine joined the Partnership for Peace program, which was the first step towards cooperation with the Alliance. In 1997, the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between Ukraine and NATO was signed, which defined the main areas of cooperation.
An important milestone was the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit, at which it was stated that Ukraine and Georgia would become members of the Alliance in the future, although no specific timeline was set.
After the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and the beginning of Russian aggression, cooperation between Ukraine and NATO intensified significantly. Ukraine was granted NATO’s Enhanced Opportunities Partner status in 2020.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 further strengthened cooperation. NATO countries provide Ukraine with significant military, financial, and humanitarian assistance. However, despite Ukraine’s aspirations for full membership in the Alliance and NATO’s continued support for Ukraine, the issue of accession remains a subject of debate and diplomatic negotiations.
At the Vilnius Summit in 2023, it was announced that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance without MAP.
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