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21:56 18 Oct 2020

"Ukraine was deceived:" Kravchuk commented on Zelenskyi's idea to revise the Budapest Memorandum

The first president, and the head of the Ukrainian delegation of the TCG Leonid Kravchuk, spoke about the grounds to summon the UN Security Council and revise the Budapest Memorandum.

Ukraine 24 reported.

One of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's five questions mentions the document. Ukrainians will answer it on October 25.

"Any country can say anything, especially Russia, which has never adhered to the norms and principles of international law. It makes the fitting statements. It still says that there is no war between Russia and Ukraine, that it is an internal conflict in Ukraine. It is obvious not only at the Ukrainian level but also at the world level, that weapons, troops, volunteers, as they say, and mercenaries are present in Donbas. They are shooting, killing, and destroying.

I don't see the need to listen to Russia only. Great Britain, the United States, France joined, China and the Security Council joined. Yes, there's a veto. But at least we can start a consultation. Well, let's say Russia doesn't want it. The state has stated that it will not follow the Budapest Memorandum. But we can start negotiations with other signatories, who also guaranteed the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.

Kravchuk explained whether the text of the document is about guarantees for Ukraine.

"There is a word of guarantee in the Ukrainian text. The states give guarantees. I don't know another interpretation. I know exactly one thing: when one country violated the Budapest Memorandum, and it obviously violated it. This country actually declared it, not to mention aggression. Other countries cannot listen to only one country. Suitable actions must be taken, and the president (with the fifth question of the poll – Ed.) wants to affirm the people's will in this case. He wants to know that the people demand that the government act adequately.

Frankly, Ukraine has been deceived. Therefore, we cannot go deceived and pretend that we are all right, that no one has committed violations. I think it will at least shake the society, force the signatory countries to reconsider their positions and, perhaps, to draw some conclusions, which we as Ukraine will promote," he said.

On October 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced a nationwide poll on the day of local elections on October 25, where they will ask citizens to answer five questions.

We will remind, Razumkov explained, that they didn't allocate the means for the poll on election day, and the CEC can't carry it out.

The Servant of the People party explained that volunteers, not the CEC, would be involved in the poll on October 25.

The Servant of the People party believes that by raising the issue of Ukraine's security guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum, Zelenskyi has received a new trump card in negotiations with Russia. Halyna Yanchenko, a People's Deputy from the Servant of the People, spoke about it on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel, commenting on the poll started by Zelenskyi, where one question concerns the Budapest Memorandum.

"The Budapest Memorandum is an unreasonably forgotten agreement. For some reason, Ukraine has always tried to play on the field of Minsk agreements, which were not in Ukraine's interests, and in the Normandy format. And Putin has always blackmailed Ukraine, blackmailed Ukrainian presidents. Russia wants so: either sign or not," Yanchenko noted.

In the people's deputy's opinion, the poll for Ukrainians on October 25 may affect the situation:

"Zelenskyi is the first to use this trump card: I represent the people of Ukraine, the people of Ukraine have a point of view, so I can't do otherwise. In fact, this poll will be another trump card in international negotiations. Plus, we can involve the UK and USA to regulate the situation in Donbas."

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