PRESS RELEASE : During the negotiations with Russia, the Ukrainian delegation officially outlined its proposals for a new system of security guarantees for our country

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 29 March 2022.

During the talks with Russia in Turkey, the Ukrainian party officially outlined its proposals for a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine. This was announced by Head of the Ukrainian delegation, Head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia.

“Today we came up with an official proposal for a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine. We insist that this must be an international treaty signed by all countries – guarantors of security, which will be ratified, so as not to repeat the mistake that was once in the Budapest Memorandum. We want it to be a working international mechanism of concrete security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said.

David Arakhamia noted that the representatives of the Ukrainian delegation did not sign any documents – they only voiced Ukraine’s proposals.

According to him, the future treaty must contain a provision according to which within three days after the start of the war, aggression, military operation, any disguised, hybrid war against Ukraine, the guarantor countries hold consultations, after which they are legally obliged to provide military assistance to our country, in particular in the form of armaments and the closure of the skies.

It is suggested that the guarantors will be permanent members of the UN Security Council: the United States, Great Britain, France, China and the Russian Federation, but “this should be discussed separately.” Ukraine also wants to see Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland and Israel among the guarantors. In addition, it is offered to provide for the free accession of other guarantors to the treaty.

According to David Arakhamia, this mechanism is even clearer than in Article 5 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty founding NATO, which envisages no limits as regards the timing of consultations.

As for the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, since their status is not regulated, international security guarantees will not work temporarily in these territories.

Ukraine also offers to envisage in the future treaty that all guarantor countries not only do not object to the accession of the Ukrainian state to the European Union, but also should assist in this process.

Member of the Ukrainian delegation Oleksandr Chalyi who heads the legal group of negotiators added that the key requirement of the Ukrainian party to the future treaty is clear, legally binding security guarantees for Ukraine, which should be analogous in content and form to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

“If we manage to consolidate these key provisions, which are a fundamental requirement for the Ukrainian party, Ukraine will be in a position to actually fix the current status of a non-aligned and non-nuclear state of permanent neutrality. Which has already historically been enshrined in our Declaration of State Sovereignty adopted on July 16, 1990,” he said.

Accordingly, Ukraine will undertake not to deploy foreign military bases, foreign military contingents on its territory, not to join military-political alliances, and military exercises on the territory of Ukraine will be possible with the consent of the guarantor countries.

“But it is fundamentally important that nothing in the future treaty will deny Ukraine’s right to join the European Union. And, secondly, the guarantor countries are committed to facilitating this process,” said Oleksandr Chalyi.

He stressed that negotiations with Russia would continue in the next two weeks. At the same time, Ukraine has already begun consultations with all guarantor countries, and it will soon be possible to invite these countries to participate in multilateral negotiations.

“Until then, the most fundamental differences must be settled at the highest political level. Then a multilateral conference will be prepared, in which senior officials of the guarantor countries will take part, and this multilateral treaty will be signed,” Oleksandr Chalyi said.

For his part, Mykhailo Podolyak, Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stressed that all the proposals of the Ukrainian delegation will be coordinated with Ukrainian society. According to him, the implementation of decisions on security guarantees will take place through an all-Ukrainian referendum, and after that – the ratification of this document by the Ukrainian parliament and the parliaments of the guarantor countries.

“That’s the key thing. We need to get the support of society for this agreement to be consolidating for us,” he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak stressed that the position of Ukraine and Russia on the status of Crimea was offered to be fixed as a separate item.

“To hold bilateral negotiations on the status of Crimea and Sevastopol separately within 15 years. In a separate paragraph, we offer to the Russian party that Ukraine and Russia will not use military or armed forces to resolve the Crimean issue during this period, while negotiations are underway,” said the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office.

According to Mykhailo Podolyak, the issue of the status of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions is proposed to be included in a separate item, which will be considered within the negotiations between the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia.

“All controversial issues have been more or less discussed, our proposals have been made,” said the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office.