Foreign Ministry reports whether there is alternative to Ukraine's membership in NATO

Ukraine insists on full membership in NATO, rejecting any alternatives due to the negative experience of the Budapest Memorandum.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated this in an address dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the signing of the memorandum.

The document, which was supposed to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for giving up its nuclear arsenal, was violated by russia, which disregarded international law.

"Having bitter experience, we do not agree to substitutes for NATO membership," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized, calling for legally binding guarantees and effective steps towards joining the Alliance.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, last year a number of Western media outlets wrote that the West would like to offer Ukraine NATO membership in exchange for territories under russian occupation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine deserves to become the 33rd member of the North Atlantic Alliance.

He also strongly rejected giving up the occupied territories even in exchange for NATO membership.

In 2023, the Verkhovna Rada legislated that any territorial concessions for the sake of ending the war are unacceptable.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha suggested that NATO member states make a decision on Ukraine's admission to the Alliance during a meeting in Brussels on December 3-4.