Kyiv, December 5, 2014. Signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances made a significant step in nuclear weapon disarmament in the entire world, said Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security during her press briefing at the Uraine Crisis Media Center.
Signing the treaty is a very strong indicator of the strength of the Ukrainian leadership to sign and today become one of the strongest players in the non-proliferation regime. After the treaty was signed Ukraine elimitaed more than 1,000 nuclear warheads. This act has made a significant impact not only on the security of Ukraine, but on the security of the entire region, Rose Gottemoeller said earlier. On the 20th anniversary, since the document was signed, Mrs. Gottemoeller saluted Ukraine for making the corageous decision and keeping its commitments firm.
«Nuclear weapons to do not buy security. They provide instability and disaster,» told Under Secretary. She has also pointed out that significant steps have been made in the nuclear disarmement worldwide. Due to different processes and measures by 2018 the United States will reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550 (as of 1967, the United States had over 31,000 nuclear warheads).
Taking into account the conflict, currently unfolding in Ukraine, United States continue cooperation with Russia on reducing the number of nuclear weapons. Singnificnt steps of consensus were also traced during the P5+1 talks on Iran as well as the negotiations on the nuclear weapon threat in Syria.
Rose Gottemoeller also expressed strong condemnation of the violent events, currently happening in eastern Ukraine. However, stated that the United States fulfilled its commitments within the Budapest Memorandum. «Sanctions do not work in a snap, they are made for the long term purpose. We will continue to step firmly in order to defend your territorial integrity,» she continued.
Finally, the US official pointed out that the Budapest Memorandum is a part of a complex legal system. The core problem here is not the weakness of the document, but that Russia stepped aside of its initial commitments, she concluded.
