Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko said in an interview with Ukrinform that the US is responsible for Ukraine’s security after signing the Budapest Memorandum.
Ohryzko’s remarks followed claims by Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, suggesting that the US plans to end the war and shift Ukraine’s security guarantees onto Europe, according to NBC News.
“This approach is completely unfair and dishonest. It was the US, along with its then-friendly Russia, that took away our nuclear weapons. Therefore, Washington bears responsibility for Ukraine’s security, as explicitly stated in the Budapest Memorandum—regardless of how we may view it,” Ohryzko said.
He stressed that the memorandum clearly states that the US guarantees Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“Today, Americans claim it was merely an ‘assurance,’ not a guarantee. Let the lawyers argue over semantics. The fact remains: in international practice, all signed copies of agreements carry equal legal weight. Both the Ukrainian and Russian versions of the document use the word ‘guarantees,’ so Ukraine has every right to interpret it as such. The current US attempts to distance itself from this responsibility are absolutely inadequate,” he said.
While acknowledging Europe’s role, Ohryzko argued that shifting full responsibility onto them is unjust.
“It’s unfair to both Europeans and Ukraine. Such statements are unacceptable—just like calls for a ‘compromise’ with Russia. This isn’t about justice or diplomacy—it’s about legitimizing a crime,” he said.
Ohryzko said he sees these statements as an attempt to “test the waters” and gauge how firmly Ukraine defends its interests.
“Our response must be firm and unequivocal: such approaches are unacceptable,” he concluded.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Guardian that if negotiations with Russia took place, he would propose an exchange of occupied territories to Moscow.
Zelenskyy explained that he would offer Moscow its Kursk Oblast, currently under Ukrainian control, in exchange for temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, should US President Donald Trump facilitate Russia’s involvement in the talks.
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