Under the Budapest memorandum concluded in 1994, Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the other three signatories — Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February, 2022, Kiev said that signatories to the Budapest Memorandum failed to honour their end of the agreement.
"I would like to remind you that Ukraine is a non-nuclear state within the terms of the NPT, and not under the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances," Syromolotov said.
Ukraine inherited nuclear competencies from the Soviet Union, which gives it the capacity to develop its nuclear potential, he added.
The politician said that "it should also be taken into account that the statements of the Ukrainian leadership are supported by appropriate technical capabilities" because "the majority of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles were made either in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or assisted by Ukrainian enterprises".
The NPT is an international treaty that aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy by furthering the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.