Legal Status of the Memorandum of Security Guarantees in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to provide academic and practical substantiation of the legal status of the Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and demonstrate the importance of the adherence to its norms as a prerequisite of trust in the international legal system, geopolitical stability, and the security of signatory states. Methodology. The methodological tools of this paper have been selected in accordance with the research objective, and the specifics of the scope and subject of inquiry. The research utilized a system of scientific methods, such as formal logic (abstraction, analogy, deduction, induction, synthesis) in the scope of elaborating the main body of the subject of inquiry; the systems analysis method in formulating the research conclusions; and the theoretical method during the study of academic and scientific literature. The scientific novelty of this research is its system-oriented analysis of the outstanding issues connected with the specifics of the legal status of the Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It proves that Ukraine has every ground to expect comprehensive fulfillment of the obligations undertaken by the nuclear states that are signatories of the Memorandum, which had legally certified the security assurances of our state in accordance with the requirements of international law. Fulfillment of obligations by the signatory states is a prerequisite for Ukraine’s optimal strategy national strengthening and further geopolitical development, given the anti-state propaganda carried out as part of the hybrid warfare by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Conclusions. The legal status of the Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of December 5, 1994, as well as the historical retrospective of its signing and the implementation mechanism, must be analyzed exclusively on the basis of historical and legal documents, in a comprehensive and unbiased manner, with an objective timeline of the analysis of this issue, and while ensuring correct interpretation and implementation of international law. Ukraine has made the biggest contribution to strengthening global security, while legally entrusting its foreign security to the assuring nuclear states. This is why trust in the international legal system and significance of the signing of interstate treaties relies on the quality of fulfillment of the norms of the Budapest memorandum. In today’s environment, only joint and coordinated action at the international level is capable of stopping the aggressor state – the Russian Federation – and compelling it to sustained peace, respect and adherence to the norms of international law as well as bilateral and multilateral agreements to which the Russian Federation is party.

Keywords: memorandum; international treaty; law enforcement; nuclear weapons; security assurances; atomic bomb; state policy; parliament; legal obligations; bilateral and multilateral international treaties.