Zelenskyy's Office on Budapest Memorandum: One of the most wonderful stories of lies
Photo: Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the President's Office (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Budapest Memorandum was one of the greatest stories of lies in modern human history. The document did not work, and everyone who signed it understood that, states Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the President's Office, in a comment on the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
According to Podolyak, the Budapest Memorandum can be considered one of the greatest illusions and deceptions in modern history. In fact, it was a document signed merely in form, without real weight or practical application. It was an illusion of agreements that, from the very beginning, did not foresee fulfillment. Those who signed the memorandum fully understood that it would not work.
At the same time, the issue was not about the actual transfer of nuclear weapons or the abandonment of strategic bombing aircraft. The main question concerned those who analyzed all of this and the tools available for enforcing the agreements.
"Not only did it turn out that the memorandum was not a document about logistics, and not only were specific guarantees about what should be done in various situations not outlined but furthermore, one of the guarantors started the war," he added.
The situation with Ukraine at that time looked like this: the state voluntarily appealed to a country that intended to destroy it and offered to give up all its strategic resources. Those who received these resources readily agreed and later used the transferred weapons to attack Ukraine itself. Likely, there was a naive belief that no one would dare harm a country that had taken such a step of trust. However, the reality turned out to be the opposite. Not only did they harm it – the resources that were voluntarily given away became a tool for destruction.
Budapest Memorandum
The Budapest Memorandum is an international agreement signed on December 5, 1994, between Ukraine, the USA, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation. In exchange for Ukraine’s renouncement of nuclear weapons, these countries allegedly provided guarantees for its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security.
As recently noted by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kyiv rejects any alternatives to joining NATO following the Budapest Memorandum, which has become a bitter experience for the country.
