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Zelensky asks Foreign Ministry to convene Budapest Memorandum summit

The Budapest Memorandum was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States

MUNICH, February 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said he has instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to call a summit conference of the Budapest Memorandum’s signatories.

"I have instructed the Foreign Ministry to convene a summit of the countries - signatories to the Budapest Memorandum. If it fails to take place or refuses to give Ukraine security guarantees, Kiev will recognize it as well as the clauses signed in 1994 as null and void," Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference.

The Budapest Memorandum was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States. Under the treaty Ukraine agreed to eliminate its nuclear arsenal, while Russia, the United States and Britain guaranteed Kiev’s security.

On February 10, 2022 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after a meeting with his British counterpart Liz Truss recalled at a news conference that the Budapest Memorandum was accompanied by a declaration, also signed by France and Ukraine, which required that all signatories should refrain from any violations of the OSCE principles, including respect for the rights of ethnic minorities. Ukraine has ignored this document to this day.

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