🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a question from RIA Novosti regarding allegations that Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum (February 24, 2026)

❓ Question: Zelensky has repeatedly claimed that by launching the special military operation, Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum. However, the head of the Kiev regime forgets that by enshrining NATO membership as a constitutional objective and engaging in military-technical cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, Ukraine itself violated, inter alia, the Budapest Memorandum. Could you elaborate on the groundlessness of Ukraine’s accusations and on other documents it has breached?

💬 Maria Zakharova: To answer this question, let us recall that the Budapest Memorandum – or the Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – is an act that does not constitute an international treaty. It was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, the US and the UK.

Under this document, Ukraine agreed to transfer to Russia the portion of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal located on its territory and to become a fully non-nuclear state. In turn, Russia, the US and the UK provided security assurances to Ukraine.

It should also be recalled that, simultaneously with the Memorandum, a joint statement was adopted in Budapest by the leaders of Russia, the UK, the US and Ukraine. Among other things, it reaffirmed the importance of #OSCE commitments aimed at countering the rise of aggressive nationalism and chauvinism. It is evident that the Ukrainian side failed to fulfil these commitments and for many years tolerated the growth of highly aggressive nationalism.

At the OSCE summit in Budapest in 1994, and during related events on its margins, Russia did not undertake any obligation to compel part of Ukraine to remain within its composition against the will of the local population. The provisions of the Budapest Memorandum do not apply to circumstances arising from internal political or socio-economic factors.

❗️ Thus, Ukraine’s loss of territorial integrity was the result of complex internal processes to which Russia and its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum bear no relation. Accordingly, there can be no question of any violation of the Budapest Memorandum by Russia.

At the same time, Russia and Ukraine were bound by a more significant legal instrument – the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine – which Ukraine systematically violated prior to the launch of the special military operation.

For many years, the Ukrainian leadership pursued a policy of gross and systematic breaches of this Treaty, which should be qualified as a refusal to comply with its provisions. This, in particular, ultimately led to the decision of the Russian leadership to begin the special military operation.

Ukraine’s strategic course toward acquiring full NATO membership was enshrined at the constitutional level, effectively violating Article 6 of the Treaty. At that moment, Ukraine officially renounced one of the foundations of its international recognition in the 1990s – its neutral and non-aligned status – thereby also breaching the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

❗️NATO's unchecked geopolitical expansion up to our borders, including Ukraine, became one of the root causes of the conflict. Without addressing this, a settlement is impossible.

When accusing Russia of violating the Budapest Memorandum, they somehow fail to recall the long-standing sabotage of this fundamental bilateral Russian-Ukrainian document.

☝️ The above facts – as well as many others – demonstrate that the goals and objectives of the special military operation remain relevant and will be fulfilled, as repeatedly stated by the Russian leadership.

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