COPENHAGEN, 18 December 2025 – As December 2025 marks the 31st Anniversary of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, signed by Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the United States of America and the United Kingdom (with France and China later issuing separate political declarations of support for Ukraine’s security assurances under the Memorandum), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Support Team for Ukraine (PSTU) underscores the magnitude of Russia’s violations of its commitments and of the broader principles of international law.
The Memorandum represented a landmark assurance of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity on the basis of Ukraine’s historic decision to renounce the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal.
Today the world witnesses the far‑reaching implications of Russia’s systematic violations, first and foremost in Ukraine and against Ukrainian civilians and children, but also across the global community as these actions erode trust, destabilize international security, weaken international agreements and ultimately undermine the foundations of the rules‑based order.
Building on these consequences, Russia’s war of aggression and full-scale invasion against Ukraine is not only a violation of the Budapest Memorandum but also a breach of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Geneva Conventions, numerous human rights treaties, and other fundamental elements of international law.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has consistently condemned Russia’s violation of the Budapest Memorandum, most recently through its 2025 Porto, 2024 Bucharest and 2022 Birmingham Declarations. These Declarations reaffirm steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, underscore Russia’s gross and ongoing violations of international law, and confirm that since 2014 Russia has disregarded all ten principles of the Helsinki Final Act in its relations with Ukraine.
The PSTU recalls that, sustained by its Declarations, it unequivocally supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Marking this anniversary, PSTU Chair Sharon Hodgson together with PSTU members stated: “We are committed to supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The PSTU reaffirms its call that these principles of international law and order be fully upheld. Russia’s violation of the Budapest Memorandum demonstrates that security assurances alone are insufficient and must now be translated into binding security guarantees.”
For more information on the work of the Parliamentary Support Team for Ukraine, please click here.
