Ukraine’s foreign ministry issues statement to mark 30 years since Budapest memorandum,

Source: Ukraine’s foreign ministry

As Ukraine approaches the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum on December 5,  its foreign ministry has issued a statement urging that NATO membership for Ukraine.

Signed in 1994, the document pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for relinquishing its vast nuclear arsenal—the third-largest in the world at the time. However, in 2014, Russia, one of the agreement’s guarantors, violated the pact annexing Crimea and launching a military campaign against Ukraine.

“The Budapest Memorandum failed to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine, nor did it lead to the consultations it mandated despite Ukraine’s repeated requests,” the statement read.

The ministry condemned Russia’s breach as a dangerous precedent undermining global nuclear disarmament efforts. Instead of fostering trust, the memorandum’s failure has prompted some nations to expand or develop nuclear capabilities.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry called the lack of effective security guarantees in 1994 a “strategic error” that enabled the Kremlin to exploit Ukraine’s vulnerability.

The ministry stressed that Ukraine now needs “clear and legally binding security guarantees.” It appealed to the memorandum’s co-signatories—the United States and the United Kingdom—along with other leading nations like France and China, to support robust measures for Ukraine’s protection.

“Having learned from the bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum, we will not accept substitutes or alternatives to full NATO membership,” the statement declared, highlighting the alliance as essential for countering Russian aggression.