Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that Moscow does not consider its aggression against Ukraine to be a violation of the Budapest Memorandum.

Source: Lavrov in an interview with the Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang, as reported by Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Quote: "The [Budapest] Memorandum states that Ukraine, like other former Soviet republics that gave up nuclear weapons, would receive guarantees from nuclear powers to non-nuclear states. That's all. That's it. These guarantees say that nuclear weapons will not be used against non-nuclear states that are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."

Details: Lavrov justified Russia's actions by claiming that alongside the Budapest Memorandum, the same parties signed a declaration committing to OSCE principles, including minority rights, democracy and freedom of speech. He asserted that these obligations were violated by Kyiv.

For reference: The Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (the Budapest Memorandum) was signed on 5 December 1994.

Its text states that Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States "reaffirm their commitment to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine." They also pledged to "refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations".

The signatories further confirmed their commitment to "refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind".

It is evident that Russia has flagrantly violated these provisions of the Budapest Memorandum, having waged aggression against Ukraine since 2014 and launching a full-scale invasion in 2022.

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