Kiev seeks consultations of Budapest memo signatories over Kerch Strait standoff

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has appealed to the Budapest Memorandum guarantor countries (the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia) for urgent consultations over the Kerch Strait standoff.

"Ukraine is constantly considering the Budapest Memorandum as an important international instrument for ensuring Ukraine's security," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Under the Budapest memorandum signed in December 1994, Ukraine got security guarantees from Washington, London and Moscow in exchange for Kiev to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and surrender what was then the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, Xinhua reported.