Three former presidents of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko, are calling on the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum to prove that the document "was not a mere fraud."

This is stated in the appeal of the three presidents of Ukraine to the signatories of the Memorandum on Security Assurances due to Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (the Budapest Memorandum), which was at the disposal of Interfax-Ukraine.

"Almost three decades ago, an event took place, the echo of which is shaking the world now. Five nuclear states pledged to Ukraine to respect its independence and territorial integrity. The provision of security assurance (namely, these words were in the title of the Budapest Memorandum, which was signed by the superpowers) became a condition Ukraine's voluntary renunciation of its nuclear missile potential. However, it was the third largest in the world, surpassing the potentials of France, Great Britain and China. Now Ukraine can remember the solemn promises of the Big Four (we were grateful that China joined the memorandum) only as derision.

The presidents said that back in 2014 Russia destroyed the territorial integrity of Ukraine by occupying Crimea and part of Donbas, while today the threat of further military invasion is directed at Ukraine from three sides.

"We are faced with the prospect of an economic blockade, namely energy blockade from the north, sea blockade from the south. Meanwhile, the inadmissibility of economic pressure on Ukraine was also recorded as one of the clauses of the Budapest Memorandum. What do we hear in response to such actions from the parties to the agreement, in whose defense and on whose determination should we count? Only calls for their citizens and diplomats to flee dangerous Ukraine as soon as possible," the former president said in the statement.

The presidents also said Ukraine only hears "severe warnings" to the aggressor, and that it will pay a "cost" but it will not include Nord Stream 2 and SWIFT.

"When the powerful nations entered into an agreement with Ukraine in 1994, they actually said: we do not want you to become equal with us. We want to maintain our monopoly. But we offer you our genuine support in exchange for genuine protection. Here is our word to you, the word of honor of the strong. We then believed, although in the same 1994 one of the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum sadly warned in a private conversation: you are being deceived. Today is the decisive moment when it can be proved that the Budapest Memorandum was not a simple deception. That a strong man can be honest and courageous... So prove your true strength," the presidents said in the document.

In their appeal, they also called for taking those steps that can stop the aggressor, and "not to reinforce his faith in impunity."

"If we lose today, there will be no more Budapest memorandums. Looking at our experience, not a single country that can obtain nuclear weapons will, under any circumstances, give it up. Therefore, not only the fate of Ukraine and your world authority are at stake now. At stake is the future of the security of the whole world. You should understand this. And have the strength to be responsible," the former presidents of Ukraine said.