Oleh Lyashko: It is Necessary to Develop International Mechanisms for Implementation of Budapest Memorandum

Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party of Ukraine, believes that international mechanisms for the implementation of the Budapest Memorandum should be developed. He stated this during the 11^th Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine.

“The development by the international community, headed by the United States, of specific mechanisms for implementation of guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum should finally be put into practice,” the politician noted.

According to Mr.Lyashko, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko received an appeal to hold an international conference of the high level on this issue in Kyiv.

“In particular, it is necessary to invite the direct signatories to the Budapest Memorandum: former U.S. President Clinton and British Prime Minister Major,” he noted.

O.Lyashko mentioned as the possible mechanisms of implementation, particularly: the consolidation of the existing and introducing new sanctions against Russia, the provision of large-scale military assistance to Ukraine, application of the ‘Budapest format’ of negotiations on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine instead of the ‘Minsk format’, accelerated accession of Ukraine to the existing security systems.

He stressed that the failure of the Budapest memorandum negatively affected international security since nuclear-weapon countries had seen the disarmament agreements not being implemented.

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The annual international event Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 as a platform for high-level discussions on the current issues in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.

The event is being held with the support of NATO Information and Documentation Center in Ukraine, the German Marshall Fund, The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, The Royal Institute of International Relations, Chatham House (UK), and The Regional Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine.