Zelensky says Ukraine will not accept another Budapest-style pledge and wants U.S. security guarantees backed by Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would not accept another security arrangement resembling the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and wants detailed U.S. guarantees backed by a vote in Congress.

“We all see what happens with countries that have nuclear weapons. Things are not so simple with them,” Zelensky said. “But we were attacked after giving up those weapons.”

Ukraine surrendered the nuclear arsenal it inherited after the Soviet collapse under agreements that included the Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia, the U.S. and Britain gave security assurances covering Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders. Russia later seized Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

“We trust the United States because we are not discussing another Budapest Memorandum, not just a piece of paper,” Zelensky said. He said Kyiv was instead discussing detailed guarantees from Washington that would have congressional backing.

Zelensky also argued that NATO membership could ultimately make Russia safer as well as Ukraine. “I believe that even the Russians need Ukraine to join NATO, because that would provide them with greater security than Ukraine remaining outside NATO,” he said, calling it his personal view.

Ukraine has recently said it is willing to consider alternatives to NATO membership if they provide legally binding protection comparable to the alliance’s security guarantees. Talks with U.S. officials this week have included NATO, an “Article 5 lite” concept and other postwar security arrangements.

Zelensky said any postwar settlement would also require separate international financing for reconstruction because Ukraine could not simultaneously rebuild the country and fund a large military from its own budget.

He said reconstruction funding would need to cover infrastructure, logistics, education, the return of Ukrainians, rehabilitation and veterans, while a separate budget would be required for the armed forces and long-term defense.