Russia was not obliged to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine

By “a circumstance resulting from the actions of internal political or socio-economic factors,” Lozinsky obviously means the so-called 2014 referendum on the entry of Crimea into Russia.

First of all, it should be noted that the Memorandum of Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons does not provide for any exceptions for “internal political or socio-economic factors.” Its text is concise and leaves no room for interpretation. Article 1 said:

“The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm to Ukraine their commitment, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine.”

There are no reservations allowing for the possibility of derogation from this obligation.

Moreover, Lozinsky, explaining the Crimean referendum by “internal political factors”, is telling a blatant lie. On February 27, 2014, the building of the Supreme Soviet of Crimea was seized by armed men in uniform without insignia; later, in March 2015, Vladimir Putin in an interview with VGTRK, shown in the film “Crimea. The way to the Motherland “, admittedthat it was Russian special forces. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet called a referendum on the “state independence” of Crimea. Supreme Council deputy Nikolay Sumulidi approvesthat there was no quorum at the meeting in the occupied building; he himself was not present there, but later found out that, it turns out, he “voted” for the referendum.

In the evening of the same day, the date of the referendum was moved from May to March 30, and then to March 16. At the same time, the question of state independence and contractual relations with Ukraine turned into a question of joining Russia. Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Armed Forces Grigory Ioffe explained the change in the wording of the question by the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities to the decision to hold a referendum. But in 2015, in the same interview with VGTRK, Vladimir Putin admitted:

“It was the night of February 22-23. We finished the meeting at about seven o’clock in the morning, I said to all my colleagues: “The situation unfolded in such a way in Ukraine that we have to start work on returning Crimea to Russia”.

Thus, the decision to annex Crimea by the time of the seizure of local authorities and the appointment of a referendum had already been made.

Of course, in Ukraine in 2014 there was a coup d’état known as the Revolution of Dignity. But it is not clear why the Russian diplomat considers the coup and the ensuing crisis of governance as grounds for Russia’s failure to fulfill its obligations to Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian leaders critically assessed the Budapest Memorandum and foresaw that someday the obligations under this document would be grossly violated, since it does not provide for any sanctions for non-compliance. Leonid Kuchma who signed the memorandum on behalf of Ukraine in 2009, 15 years after signing and 5 years before the annexation of Crimea, so characterized his:

“They gave us a piece of paper instead of nuclear weapons.”

He also recalled the words of the then French President Francois Mitterrand:

“Son, do not believe this document, you will be deceived.”

It is this deception that the Russian diplomat at the UN is now trying to justify.