 Ukraine shall demand Budapest Memorandum of 1994 should become Legally Binding - Speaker
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, has told the Serbian newspaper "Politika" that Ukraine should seek the provision of the legal nature to the Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
V. Lytvyn reminded that the Memorandum on Security Assurances due to Ukraine´s accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty only envisages obligation of Russia, Great Britain and the USA (later they were joined by France and China) to guarantee security together with the United Nations Security Council if Ukraine becomes a victim of aggression with the use of nuclear weapon, as well as obligations to hold consultations in case of threats to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. "However, these agreements are not legally binding and capable. I am convinced that Ukraine shall demand that the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 should become legally binding", he stated.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed that Ukraine supports improvement of multi-lateral tools of global peace and stability protection. Still, he reminded that the Ukrainian Party had initiated scrutiny of the issue on security guarantees for the non-nuclear states in the United Nations, and called on the nuclear states to draft a respective multi-lateral legally binding document.
"I am convinced that the present policy of non-aligned status of Ukraine corresponds to the modern challenges, so our state shall comply with it. However, Ukraine is interested in fruitful cooperation with NATO and other security organizations. Our state together with the EU member countries, Russia and the USA shall scrupulously work upon the development of a new system of collective security in the Euro-Atlantic region." |
