More than two dozen Ukrainian intellectuals appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama and other Western leaders, calling for stronger security guarantees to protect Ukraine from Russia, which they allege is increasingly meddling in Ukrainian affairs.
In a letter made public on Sept. 10, they expressed fears that Russia could go so far as to use military force against Ukraine, and called upon western leaders to hold an international conference in order to provide real guarantees for Ukraine’s security, as provided for by The Budapest Memorandum of Security Issues.
“The Russian leadership has consciously chosen a path to destroy existing security systems, a main aim of which is to subjugate Ukraine within the geopolitical interests of Russia. There are signs that the Kremlin is not ruling out using its arsenal and military methods. The informational war against Ukraine has reached unprecedented levels. A picture of Ukraine as the enemy is being formed within Russian society,” the letter reads.
This week, Russian lawmakers adopted in the first reading a new military doctrine that sanctions use of Russia’s army abroad to protect national interests. Referring to this development, the Ukrainian intellectuals said: “For the first time in many years, there are signs that the Kremlin would not rule out using forceful means to reach its foreign-political aims with respect to Ukraine.”
The group cited the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, signed on Dec. 5, 1994, in return for Ukraine’s decision to turn over its nuclear arsenal to Russia. Citing this memorandum, the group called upon the EU, U.S., Great Britain, France and China, to “take firm and unequivocal stance to ensure the sovereignty of Ukraine.”
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, writer Yuriy Andrukhovych and honorary dean of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Vyacheslav Brukhovetsky are among the well-known Ukrainians who signed the letter.
The groups’s fears are shared by many Ukrainians, including President Victor Yushchenko. Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. said the Ukrainian president hopes next week to meet with Obama in New York during a one-day UN summit on climate change.
Excerpts of theletter first appeared on the Ukrainska Pravda website on Sept. 10.
