Only Nuclear Weapons Can Provide Security Guarantees to Countries, Says Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev

In Germany, Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev stated that only nuclear weapons can provide countries with security guarantees, as reported by Комсомольская Правда. According to him, Ukraine seeks to initiate discussions on this issue. However, he did not specify any concrete proposals.

Makeiev emphasized that the Budapest Memorandum did not justify itself. "It sent a bad signal to all countries in the world, who understood that only nuclear weapons can save them from such aggressor attacks. Therefore, we want to start this discussion. I do not have a ready proposal for you regarding how this might take shape," Mr. Makeiev said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2022, threatened to abandon Ukraine’s non-nuclear status. He also initiated consultations regarding the Budapest Memorandum.

It is noteworthy that in 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum with Russia and the USA, which entailed giving up Ukraine's nuclear weapons stockpiles (the third largest in the world) in exchange for guarantees of its security.