russia distorts the content of the Budapest Memorandum to justify the war
russia is once again attempting to rewrite the content of the Budapest Memorandum in order to justify its armed aggression and the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
▫️ russian foreign ministry spokesperson maria zakharova claimed that the 1994 document guaranteed security to Ukrainians but allegedly “does not oblige russia to forcibly keep parts of Ukraine’s territory within its composition.” She also stated that Ukraine supposedly lost its territorial integrity due to “internal processes” and “aggressive nationalism” long before the full-scale invasion.
▫️ The Budapest Memorandum, signed by Ukraine, russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, clearly enshrines commitments to respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and existing borders, as well as to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.
▫️ zakharova’s statement is a fabricated interpretation. The Memorandum obligated moscow not to alter Ukraine’s borders by force. This is precisely what russia violated in 2014 and again in 2022.
russia invents absurd interpretations of international documents to create the illusion of legal justification for its aggression. moscow is once again manipulating international law in an attempt to evade responsibility for its war of conquest against Ukraine.
