"Of course, we understand the efforts of our partners to remain active in the negotiation process. The talks about the Swedish or Austrian neutrality models stem from this. But Ukraine is now at war with Russia," said Mykhailo Podoliyak, Adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine, Report informs.
"Therefore, it can only be a Ukrainian model and only with approved safety guarantees. There are no other models or options. What does this mean? First, absolute and effective security guarantees. Not a protocol or a Budapest-like one. This means that the signatories of the guarantee should not stand aside in case Ukraine is attacked, as they do today, but take an active part in the conflict on the Ukrainian side and officially provide us with the necessary weapons. Second, Ukraine no longer wants to depend on bureaucratic procedures that allow or prevent the use of cruise missiles to close the skies. We need direct and strict assurances that the sky will definitely close," Podoliak said.
He added that Ukraine has never been an aggressive state that attacks or plans to attack its neighbors: "That is why today Ukraine wants to have a really strong alliance with clearly defined security guarantees."
The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances after Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (or the Budapest Memorandum for short) is an intergovernmental document on security guarantees. It was signed in 1994 by Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States and has not yet been ratified by any state.
The Budapest Memorandum for official Kyiv became the most important document with Russia's annexation of Crimea in early 2014. The main problem in the interpretation of the memorandum is the non-ratification of the document. Ukraine insists that the document was signed by the heads of state and entered into force upon signing. Opponents of this position believe that since the memorandum has not been ratified, the document can only be considered a declaration.