My country, Ukraine, has a proposal for the west – and it could make the whole world safer | Andriy Yermak

A legally binding security guarantee from our allies, replacing the failed Budapest memorandum, would make a huge difference

• Andriy Yermak is head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency

In November 1994, Boris Yeltsin wrote to his counterpart, Bill Clinton. The Russian president urged the US and the west to support a historic Russian-Ukrainian treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership".

At the time, Yeltsin had forged a close working relationship with Ukraine's president, Leonid Kuchma. The Russian leader spoke of his desire to seal a really milestone document" covering all the concerns of Ukraine, which is fraternal to us".

Andriy Yermak is head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency

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