KYIV. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Three former Ukrainian presidents, Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma, and Viktor Yushchenko, are calling on the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum to prove that the document "was not a mere deception."
"Almost three decades ago [...] the five nuclear powers made a commitment to Ukraine to honor its independence and territorial integrity. Providing security guarantees (and these were the words in the title of the Budapest Memorandum signed by the superpowers) was a condition of Ukraine's voluntary renunciation of its nuclear missile capacity. At the time, it was the third largest in the world, surpassing those of France, the United Kingdom, and China. Now Ukraine can remember the solemn promises of the Big Four [nuclear powers] (we were grateful that China joined the memorandum) only as mockery", the appeal of three Ukrainian presidents to the signatory states of the Budapest memorandum, which was made available to Interfax, said.
The presidents said that back in 2014, Russia eroded Ukraine's territorial integrity by "occupying" Crimea and part of Donbas, and today a threat of further military invasion is directed at Ukraine from three sides. "We find ourselves facing the prospect of an economic blockade, namely, an energy blockade from the north, a naval blockade from the south," the appeal said.
"Meanwhile, the unacceptability of economic pressure on Ukraine was also recorded as one of the clauses of the Budapest Memorandum. What do we hear in response to such actions from the parties to the agreement, on whose protection and on whose determination we should count? Only appeals to their citizens and diplomats to flee dangerous Ukraine as soon as possible," the statement said.
The presidents also noted that Ukraine only hears "stern warnings" to the aggressor, and that it will pay a "price," but it will not include Nord Stream 2 and SWIFT.
"When the big states concluded an agreement with Ukraine in 1994, they were actually saying: we don't want you to become an equal with us. We want to keep our monopoly. However, we offer you, in exchange for genuine protection, our genuine support. Here is our word to you - the honest word of a strong party. We believed then, although in the same 1994 one of the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum sadly warned in a private conversation: you are being deceived. Today is a crucial moment to prove that the Budapest Memorandum was no mere deception. That the strong can be honest and courageous... So prove your true strength," the presidents said in their address.
In the address, they also called for steps that can stop the aggressor rather than "reinforce his belief in impunity."
"If we lose today, there will be no more Budapest Memorandums. Looking at our experience, no country that can get nuclear weapons will give it up under any circumstances. Therefore, it's not just the fate of Ukraine and your global credibility that's at stake now. The future of global security is at stake. Realize it. And have the strength to be responsible," the Ukrainian presidents noted.
The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the U.S. in the wake of Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.