The parliamentary committee for foreign affairs has placed direct and primary responsibility on the Russian Federation for actions resulted in the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and called on the United States and the United Kingdom to urgently sign defense agreements between Ukraine and the United States, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, under the present circumstances.

"The Committee… condemns the actions of the Russian Federation that have led to the termination of the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, signed on December 8, 1987 (INF Treaty). The Committee does understand the decision the United States has arrived at in response to the breach of the Treaty by the Russian Federation," the committee said in a statement posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The committee said that "the actions of the Russian Federation have led to the complete termination of the INF Treaty and, as a consequence, to the threat of a new rush of armaments."

"Under these new security conditions, Ukraine must seriously ponder over its future potential to contain the threats that have emerged since the Russian Federation's destruction of the INF Treaty," the parliamentary committee said.

The committee has called on the United States and the United Kingdom to actively support Ukraine within the frame of the security assurances made under the Budapest Memorandum.

"Among such practical mechanisms there could be, inter alia, an immediate conclusion of bilateral defence agreements between Ukraine and the United States, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as awarding Ukraine the status of a major non-NATO ally of the United States of America until Ukraine becomes a fully-fledged member of NATO - as it was proposed in the formal appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the United States Congress regarding security guarantees of March 22, 2017," the committee said.

According to the statement, as one of the successors to the former USSR, Ukraine has always faithfully adhered to its all international commitments in the field of nuclear disarmament, reduction and elimination of weapons of mass destruction and the weapon-delivery vehicles. In particular, Ukraine has fully ensured the implementation of provisions of the INF Treaty, including on the temporary inspection activities of the United States in the territory of Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR.

"However, one of the guarantor States - the Russian Federation, has brutally violated the fundamental principles of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the obligations under the Budapest Memorandum, and launched an armed aggression against Ukraine… It should be noted that the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has inflicted a pounding blow to the global non-proliferation regime, discrediting international guarantees largely as a way of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the weapon-delivery vehicles," the committee said.

"The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine emphasizes the need for joint efforts and actions aimed to prevent nuclear threats, preserve peace, international law and order," the committee said.