Ukrainian Defense Minister: "Russia has deployed 220 000 soldiers on the south-eastern borders of Ukraine and in Crimea"

Ukrainian Defense Minister: "Russia has deployed 220 000 soldiers on the south-eastern borders of Ukraine and in Crimea"
# 11 March 2014 11:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. Russia has deployed 220 000 soldiers on the south-eastern borders of Ukraine and in Crimea, said Ukraine’s interim Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh at Verkhovnya Rada, APA reports quoting korrepondent.net. “220 000 soldiers of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are holding military trainings on the eastern borders of Ukraine and in Crimea. They have 1,800 tanks, more than 400 helicopters, 150 aircraft and 60 warships,” he said.


Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that the Verkhovnya Rada should call on the states (U.S., UK), which guarantee the security of Ukraine according to the Budapest Memorandum, to protect Ukraine from Russia’s aggression: “We are urging the parliament to vote for the statement addressed to the states that signed the Budapest Memorandum and calling them to fulfill their guarantees.”


Yatsenyuk said Ukraine, which renounced its nuclear status basing on Budapest document, is now defenseless and facing a nuclear state armed to the teeth.


“If you do not fulfill your guarantee, then you should explain how you will make Iran or South Korea reject nuclear weapons,” he said.


According to the Prime Minister, the question is calling the guarantor states to withdraw forces (Russia) from Ukraine and defend (US, UK) Ukraine.


Chairman of the Parliament, Acting President Alexander Turchinov underlined that they would appeal to the guarantor states for military-technical assistance.


“The states, which have given us security guarantee, must fulfill their commitments. We have brought the Armed Forces to combat readiness. We have held trainings and see in what state the army is. Currently, we are starting to restore the army,” he said.


The Budapest Memorandum, signed on December 5, 1994, by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom laid out a set of assurances for Ukraine. These included commitments to respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in return for giving up its nuclear weapons.

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