Statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding accusations of Russia’s violation of its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum of 5 December 1994

Regarding the alleged violations of Russia's obligations under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, we should like to make the following statements.

The current "government" in Kiev, which came to power as a result of an anti-constitutional coup, by their policy, primarily with regard to national minorities, has in fact itself broken the unity of Ukraine and literally pushed an entire regionout.

At the OSCE summit in Budapest in 1994 and during events on the side-lines, Russia did not undertake to force part of Ukraine to stay in it against the will of the local population, but the provisions of the Budapest Memorandum are not applicable to the conditions which have become a consequence of actions of foreign policy or social and economic factors.

As is known, 97 per cent of voters in Crimea during the referendum of the 16 March, which was organised under the control of international observers, supported entry into the Russian Federation.

Thus, Ukraine'sloss of its territorial integrity was a result of complicated internal processes, with which neither Russia nor its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum have anything to do.

The Russian Federation strictly observed and still observes its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, including during the many months of political confrontation in Kiev, which cannot be said about the policy of western countries, who openly neglected this sovereignty during the events on the "maidan".

Let us remind ourselves of the fact that along with this memorandum a joint statement was adopted in Budapest by the leaders of Russia, the United Kingdom the United States and Ukraine, which, inter alia, confirmed the importance of obligations within the OSCE, which are envisaged to counteract the growth of aggressive nationalism and chauvinism. It is absolutely clear that Ukraine has not fulfilled these obligations and had been conniving in the growth of extremely aggressive nationalism for many years, which finally led to the self-determination of the Crimean population by entering the Russian Federation.

As to the statement that Russia by its actions allegedly demonstrates the insecurity of the very concept of "negative guarantees" of the security of non-nuclear states and thus "destroys" the regime of nuclear non-proliferation, then it should be highlighted that only the obligation not to use and not to threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states is the common element of the Budapest Memorandum and the concept of "negative guarantees" in its classic understanding. Russia has not violated this obligation vis-à-vis Ukraine in any way.

All the other obligations under the Budapest Memorandum are a copy of the OSCE principles and have nothing to do with the concept of "negative guarantees" or the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in general. Therefore, any affirmations that Russia's actions "disrupt" the regime of nuclear non-proliferation are inconsistent and unfair.

1 April 2014