Involving China in Ukraine security guarantees 'not strategically correct' — former MP

Former MP and former head of the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Oksana Yurynets spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"China was not present when the first memorandum was signed, but let's say that this will be a new development for Budapest II, and a fifth country will appear there - China - because there were four countries that signed the Budapest Memorandum. These are the United States, Britain, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. And we understand that one of the signatories has violated it in a brazen manner by now waging an aggressive war on the territory of Ukraine," she said.

Yurynets added that she does not know whether it is really worth seeking guarantees when the last NATO summit determined that China, which de facto supports Russia in this war, is a threat.

“Even if not directly, then through North Korea with its manufactured consumables and more - in fact, the very thing that is killing Ukrainians. So now it is very interesting that, even during this period of full-scale invasion and war in Ukraine, we will be involving those who, let's say, are already behaving quite differently,” the former MP noted.

She believes that China's involvement in security guarantees and the change in strategy requires a deep understanding.

"Especially after statements from the Chinese leader that they do not want Russia to lose. The question then is the cost of those agreements. That is, we need to understand whether there will be a reform of the UN Security Council, which has been discussed for at least the last 10 years. But in the context of Budapest II, the second memorandum with the inclusion of China, I think this is what our enemies want," Yurynets emphasized.

In her opinion, this is not an easy thing.

“Every historical moment requires certain difficult decisions; there are no easy solutions. Therefore, the decision regarding China is very questionable to me, and I believe that it is not entirely strategically correct from the perspective of Euro-Atlantic traditions, which have already been established and have been in place for over 70 years,” the MP concluded.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Moscow allegedly supports providing Ukraine with security guarantees, but that Kyiv must abandon its intention to join NATO.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that China cannot be a guarantor of security for Ukraine.