President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy initiates consultations with the guarantor states of the Budapest Memorandum. He said this during a speech at the 58th Munich Security Conference.
“Since 2014, Ukraine has tried three times to convene consultations with the guarantor states of the Budapest Memorandum. Three times without success. Today Ukraine will do it for the fourth time. I, as President, will do this for the first time. But both Ukraine and I are doing this for the last time. I am initiating consultations in the framework of the Budapest Memorandum. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was commissioned to convene them,” the President said.
According to him, if these consultations do not happen again or their results do not guarantee security for our country, Ukraine “will have every right to believe that the Budapest Memorandum is not working and all the package decisions of 1994 are in doubt.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also proposed to convene a summit of permanent members of the UN Security Council in the coming weeks with the participation of Ukraine, Germany and Turkey in order to address security challenges in Europe and elaborate new, effective security guarantees for Ukraine, as long as it is not a member of NATO yet and in fact is in a “security vacuum”.
“What else can we do now? Continue to effectively support Ukraine and its defense capabilities. Provide Ukraine with a clear European perspective, the tools of support available to candidate countries, and clear and comprehensive timeframes for joining the Alliance. Support the transformation in our country. Establish a Stability and Reconstruction Fund for Ukraine, a land-lease program, the supply of the latest weapons, machinery and equipment for our army - an army that protects the whole of Europe,” the Head of State emphasized.
He also insists on developing an effective package of preventive sanctions to deter Russian aggression, guaranteeing Ukraine's energy security, ensuring its integration into the EU energy market as Nord Stream 2 is used as a weapon.
“All these questions need answers. So far we have silence instead of them. And as long as there is silence, there will be no silence in the east of our state. That is - in Europe. That is - in the whole world,” the President stressed.
