On the occasion of the
third Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, the United States and Ukraine today
reaffirm their strategic partnership and emphasize the important role of
nuclear nonproliferation in that relationship. The United
States values its 20-year partnership with Ukraine
on these issues. Our nonproliferation partnership dates from Ukraine’s 1994 decision to remove
all nuclear weapons from its territory and to accede to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapon state. In the 1994
Budapest Memorandum, the United States,
the Russian Federation, and
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland welcomed these
Ukrainian actions, and they reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine to respect the independence,
sovereignty, and existing borders of Ukraine. The United States government reaffirms that
commitment today to the new Ukrainian government and the people of Ukraine, including in Crimea.
The United States government
condemns Russia’s failure to
abide by its commitments under the Budapest Memorandum with its unilateral
military actions in Ukraine.
Russia’s
actions undermine the foundation of the global security architecture and
endanger European peace and security. Ukraine
and the United States
emphasize that they will not recognize Russia's
illegal attempt to annex Crimea. Crimea is an
integral part of Ukraine.
The United States will
continue to help Ukraine
affirm its sovereignty and territorial integrity. As the people of Ukraine work to restore unity, peace, and
security to their country, the United
States will stand by their side.
The United States and Ukraine reiterate their commitment
to upholding their nuclear nonproliferation commitments. The United States recognizes the importance of the
2012 removal of all highly enriched uranium from Ukraine. This removal again
highlighted Ukraine’s
leadership in nuclear security and nonproliferation, as we collectively work
together to secure the world’s vulnerable nuclear material. As part of its
support for this effort, the United States
committed in 2010 to work with Ukraine
to construct a Neutron Source Facility at the Kharkiv Institute for Physics and
Technology. This month construction of the Neutron Source Facility was
completed. The facility, equipped with the most up-to-date technology to
operate at the highest safety standards, provides Ukraine with new research
capabilities and the ability to produce industrial and medical isotopes for the
benefit of the Ukrainian people.
This state of the art
facility is representative of the modern, European state the Government of
Ukraine is committed to building. To build on this important cooperation, the
United States will continue to provide technical support for the Neutron Source
Facility as Ukraine completes the necessary final equipment installation,
testing, and start-up to make the facility fully operational as soon as
practical.
This successful effort
reflects broad U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation on nuclear security and
nonproliferation. Our countries recently extended the U.S.-Ukraine Cooperative
Threat Reduction (CTR) Umbrella Agreement and the U.S.-Ukraine Agreement
Concerning Operational Safety Enhancements, Risk Reduction Measures, and
Nuclear Safety Regulation for Civilian Nuclear Facilities in Ukraine.
The United States and
Ukraine intend to continue to partner to prevent nuclear proliferation by
improving Ukraine’s ability to detect nuclear materials on its borders, to
provide physical protection at sites with nuclear or radioactive materials, and
to maintain an adequate export control system in order to help realize the
goals of the Nuclear Security Summits.
