Signing the Budapest Memorandum was one of the most fundamental mistakes in Ukrainian foreign policy. In 1994, Ukraine voluntarily relinquished the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, but received only political declarations in exchange.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine's Prime Minister from 2014 to 2016 and Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, discussed this at the 11th Kyiv Youth Security Forum "GEN W²: CODING THE FUTURE".

"The original Budapest Memorandum does not contain a single word about guarantees. Even if it did, these guarantees were not secured by anything," he said.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that neither the U.S. administration nor Congress was ready to make legal commitments to Ukraine at that time. "The American side clearly stated that it would not certify the memorandum. This was said during closed negotiations," the former Prime Minister emphasized.

“I can quote President Clinton, who apologized to the Ukrainian people for signing the Budapest Memorandum. This is important, but the fact remains that this decision effectively paved the way for russia to occupy Ukraine," he added.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk noted that Ukraine had been under threat of russian aggression long before 2014, but the world ignored it. "At that time, few believed that russia would invade Ukraine. The world turned a blind eye. We are seeing the same thing happen now," he said.

The politician recalled that, in 2014, he had to convince his Western counterparts that the events in Crimea were not the work of "little green men", but rather of regular russian army units. He also mentioned Ukraine's rejection of NATO's Membership Action Plan and russia's war against Georgia as examples of the same logic of underestimating the Kremlin's threat.

According to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the main conclusion concerns possible future negotiations. "If a miracle happens – and I emphasize, a miracle – and real peace talks begin, we must never allow the mistakes of the Budapest Memorandum to be repeated. Ukraine has no right to agree a second time to fictitious ‘guarantees’ that are not secured by protection mechanisms and real commitments from partners,” he stressed.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also emphasized that the Budapest Memorandum, which was intended to provide security guarantees, instead set a precedent with entirely different consequences. Ukraine got rid of its nuclear weapons, lost 20% of its territory, and is now being attacked by a nuclear-armed state. Therefore, this is a very important historical lesson. But we're the ones paying for this history lesson," the politician concluded.

Open Ukraine is an international foundation established by Arseniy Yatsenyuk in July 2007. Its goal is to strengthen and develop Ukraine's authority in the world. The foundation organizes the Kyiv Security Forum every year. This leading international discussion platform focuses on issues of war and peace. The foundation also organizes the Kyiv Youth Security Forum to develop a new generation of Ukrainian leaders.