An Appeal of Bishop Mykola Bychok to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

AN APPEAL

of Bishop Mykola Bychok, Eparch of Melbourne

to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

(3 May 2024)

Dear Brother Bishops,

Thank you for this opportunity to convey to you, once again, the truth about the war in Ukraine. Today is the 800^th day of the war.

This year marks the 30^th anniversary since the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Great Britain and russia signed the so-called “Budapest Memorandum” on security guarantees in connection with the accession of Ukraine to the “Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons” (known as NPT) on the 5^th of December 1994. As a result of this memorandum in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons, Ukraine was given guarantees of compliance with the provisions of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations Charter and the Treaty of NPT.

Ukraine became the first state after the Second World War, to voluntarily surrender its nuclear weapons, thus showing its desire for peace. However, as time shows, we got it wrong because not everyone wanted peace. On the 10^th of March 2024, the Permanent Synod of the UGCC issued a statement regarding Pope Francis’ statements about the “white flag” and negotiations with Russia, which states: “Ukraine negotiated away its nuclear arsenal in 1994, at the time the third largest in the world, larger than that of France, the United Kingdom, and China combined. In return Ukraine received security guarantees regarding its territorial integrity (including Crimea) and independence, which Putin was obliged to respect. The 1994 Budapest memorandum signed by russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom is not worth the paper on which it was written. So, it will be with any agreement ‘negotiated’ with putin’s russia”.

It is worth remembering that after the founding of the United Nations, the idea of destroying nuclear weapons became one of its priorities. In the 1960s, five countries conducted nuclear tests, which caused a great deal of concern. In 1965, during the work of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, the leading countries of the world began to consider the draft treaty of NPT. This treaty entered into force on the 5^th of March 1970 for 43 states, including three nuclear powers (USSR, Great Britain, and the United States) out of the five. In addition, in 1975, 35 states (33 European, as well as the USA and Canada) signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Final Act), which established the principle of the inviolability of borders and the territorial integrity of European states, as well as formulated the foundations European security and principles of relations between states.

Ukraine, having the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was experiencing a prolonged economic crisis. Not having the means even to maintain its nuclear missiles, in 1992 Ukraine agreed to negotiations on giving up nuclear weapons. In exchange for financial assistance from the USA, supplies of energy resources from russia on preferential terms, on the 5^th of December 1994, a Memorandum on Security Guarantees in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the NPT was signed in Budapest. France and China, two other NPT participants, provided similar guarantees by making relevant statements, but did not sign the Budapest Memorandum.

Since 1970, the number of signatories to the NPT has grown to 190 states, making the document the largest binding non-proliferation or arms control agreement in history. Only three states — India, Israel and Pakistan — have never complied with the provisions of this treaty, and one country — North Korea — has announced its withdrawal from the NPT.

Even though Ukraine had the guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum, russia occupied Crimea in February 2014, and on the 24^th of February 2022, carried out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On 8^th of March 2024, the bishops of Australia received the message of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church regarding war and a just peace in the context of new ideologies under heading “Rescue the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor” (Jer. 22, 3). I would like to quote paragraph 31: “The hypothetical avoidance by russia, a nuclear power, of responsibility for a criminal violation of international law and an attack on a sovereign state will only accelerate the growth of the number of nuclear powers on the planet. Now, after the start of russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, non-nuclear states feel more vulnerable than ever before to those states that possess nuclear weapons. When we consider russia’s seizure and shelling of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, the situation becomes even more alarming. How can we talk about international security today when a state that is a member of the UN Security Council and possesses one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, in order to achieve its aggressive goals, itself poses a threat to this security and resorts to outright nuclear blackmail of the entire international community?”

In conclusion, I urge you to support the initiative of the Holy Father Francis and His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav regarding the exchange of captives “all for all”. We know that about 8,000 Ukrainian servicemen and 1,600 civilians are currently in russian captivity, in inhumane conditions. Let us do everything possible to make the exchange of all prisoners from both sides a reality.

May God bless Australia and Ukraine!