Lavrov says that russia did not violate Budapest Memorandum when it attacked Ukraine

Moscow continues to deny any of its own violations of the Budapest Memorandum and accuses Ukraine of failing to comply with the provisions of this document, claiming that russia allegedly fulfills its terms. This was reported by russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with the Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang.

He claims that the Budapest Memorandum allegedly "contains only guarantees from nuclear states about the non-use of nuclear weapons" against those countries that have renounced them and signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"It says that Ukraine, like other former Soviet republics that have renounced nuclear weapons, will receive guarantees that nuclear states provide to non-nuclear states. That's it. That's all. According to these guarantees, nuclear weapons will not be used against non-nuclear states that are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," the russian Foreign Minister said.

But the text of the document, signed on December 5, 1994 between Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the russian federation, stated otherwise.

The main provisions confirmed by the guarantor countries included:

1. Respect for sovereignty and borders: Reaffirmation of the obligation to respect the independence, sovereignty, and existing borders of Ukraine in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Final Act of the CSCE (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe).
2. Refraining from force: Reaffirmation of the obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. It was also noted that their weapons would never be used against Ukraine (except for self-defense purposes or in accordance with the UN Charter).
3. Refrain from economic pressure: Confirmation of the obligation to refrain from economic pressure aimed at subordinating Ukraine's exercise of the rights inherent in its sovereignty to its own interests.
4. Action in the UN Security Council: The obligation to seek immediate action by the UN Security Council to assist Ukraine as a state party to the NPT, should it become a victim of aggression or the object of a threat of aggression with the use of nuclear weapons.

In fact, the memorandum provided security guarantees (but not hard defense guarantees) in exchange for Ukraine's renunciation of the world's third largest nuclear arsenal.

Let us recall that Ukrposhta has issued a new stamp dedicated to the Budapest Memorandum. It reads: "The Budapest Memorandum is a f*****g mess."

December 5 was the anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum: how Ukraine lost its nuclear weapons and whether it could have been prevented.

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