The first president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, on air on Channel 24, spoke about the ultimatum on nuclear disarmament that the United States put forward to Kiev in the early 1990s. According to him, Washington threatened the country with serious economic sanctions in case of refusal to “lay down” the nuclear arsenal.
“Why did they put such a demand? Because in Ukraine there were 165 nuclear ballistic systems that were aimed at the United States of America. Management (was) in Moscow, and the rockets were with us, ”said Kravchuk.
The ex-president of Ukraine explained the logic of Washington’s behavior by concern for security. The United States was afraid of a "sprawling" nuclear arsenal and believed that Kiev would not be able to provide proper control over it.
Kravchuk said earlier that not only Americans took a very tough stance on Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament. According to him, in the early 1990s, Russian leader Boris Yeltsin demanded that he immediately transfer to Moscow all the remaining warheads in Ukraine. The reason for the ultimatum of the ex-president of the Russian Federation was the warranty period for these products, which expired in 1997.
- First President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk
- RIA News
In an interview with RT, Andrei Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and Politics at the Higher School of Economics, called the “logical” pressure exerted on Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the USA. According to the expert, Moscow and Washington recognized the inability of the young state to finance and manage strategic forces.
“Of key importance for Russia and the United States is the predictability of the country that owns the nuclear arsenal, as well as its high culture of handling it. It doesn’t matter whether it is an adversary or an ally. Post-Soviet Ukraine was in a fever, anything could happen with nuclear weapons. Therefore, we and the Americans raised the question before Kravchuk, ”Suzdaltsev explained.
Inappropriate bidding
At the time of the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine possessed the world's third nuclear arsenal. According to Ukrainian media, 900 warheads, 165 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) PC-18 (UR-100N UTTKh "Stiletto") and PC-22 (RT-23 UTTKh Molodets) remained on the territory of the country.
Also in Ukraine, significant reserves of tactical atomic weapons were located, four hundred X-22 supersonic long-range cruise missiles and strategic aviation units armed with long-range Tu-22M3 bombers were deployed.
“I don’t have any special sympathy for Kravchuk, but he made the only right decision - to rid the country of nuclear weapons. It posed a threat to both the West and Russia, and to Ukraine itself. The pressure of Moscow and Washington only accelerated this process, ”said Suzdaltsev.
On July 16, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR, chaired by Kravchuk, adopted a declaration of state sovereignty, in which the country's nuclear-free status was proclaimed. In 1991, Kiev agreed with Moscow on the export of tactical nuclear weapons, and in May 1992, Kravchuk informed US President George W. Bush of his readiness to abandon ICBMs.
In 1992, the United States and the countries possessing the Soviet nuclear arsenal (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus) signed an additional protocol to START-I in Lisbon. The document provided for the disposal of all atomic weapons or their transfer to Russia.
In January 1994, the presidents of the Russian Federation, the United States and Ukraine adopted a trilateral statement on security guarantees and compensation for Kiev in exchange for a nuclear-free status. In particular, the document allowed Ukraine to receive “fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants” from Russia free of charge. In turn, Washington agreed to transfer $ 175 million to Kiev.
On December 5, 1994, the leaders of the Russian Federation, the USA, Great Britain and Ukraine concluded the so-called Budapest memorandum. Foreign powers provided Kiev with guarantees of territorial integrity and promised "to refrain from economic coercion."
- Ukrainian workers cut the X-22 air-launched cruise missile
- Reuters
- © Gleb Garanich
The disposal of the Soviet nuclear arsenal was led by the Center for Administrative Management of Strategic Nuclear Forces of Ukraine. In the mid-1990s, Kiev got rid of tactical nuclear weapons, warheads, part of ICBMs, and eliminated strategic missile forces.
Disposal of the rest of the arsenal was delayed. One of the reasons is Kiev’s dissatisfaction with the amount of compensation.
Moscow constantly rejected the claims of the Ukrainian side. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, from 1993 to 1998, Kiev received 1.8 thousand fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants. In 2000, Russia wrote off a debt of $ 1.099 billion to Kiev, "including $ 199 million in compensation for the cost of fissile materials."
“Ukraine received quite adequate compensation from Russia. I don’t understand how Kiev could bargain over the disposal of nuclear weapons. After all, with all the desire, Ukraine could not independently exploit the strategic arsenal. Russia and the United States helped her get rid of this burden, and even gave money, ”said Suzdaltsev.
“Nobody needs a second Chernobyl”
Meanwhile, since 2014, Ukraine has regularly voiced proposals to restore the status of a nuclear power. Some politicians believe that Kiev should not have agreed to disarmament. In their opinion, the country did not receive a sufficient amount of compensation and was deceived by Russia and the West in 2014. This is an alleged violation of the Budapest memorandum, which recorded the inviolability of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
One of the first to say this was the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Valery Geletey after the defeat of the Armed Forces near Ilovaisk in September 2014. In April 2018, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Alexander Turchinov condemned Kravchuk’s policies. According to him, the status of a nuclear power would prevent "Russian aggression" in 2014.
- Dismantling the warhead MBR UR-100N UTTH "Stiletto" in Ukraine
- Reuters
“Such rhetoric was the hallmark of the regime of Petro Poroshenko, but it is likely that it will continue under Vladimir Zelensky. Sighs about the lost "power" - part of the nationalistic Russophobic ideology of modern Ukraine. At the same time, they forget in Kiev that the Budapest memorandum was a goodwill gesture of the great powers, and not a binding document, ”said Suzdaltsev.
In December last year, the former representative of the Ukrainian mission to NATO, Major General Peter Garashchuk called on the state to launch a nuclear program. He believes that Ukraine can create nuclear warheads and missiles at the capacities of the Southern Machine-Building Plant SE (Dnepropetrovsk). This enterprise is the lead developer of the Voevoda (Satan) ICBM R-36M.
In an interview with RT, columnist for the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, Dmitry Drozdenko, said that Ukraine was not able to create nuclear weapons. According to him, the USSR never produced warheads, and Yuzhmash lost its competence in the development of high-precision carriers.
“One can fantasize about this subject for a long time. Actually, this is exactly what Kiev is doing, but in reality in a neighboring country there is neither money nor technology. In the years of the USSR, nuclear weapons were produced in close cooperation with enterprises scattered throughout the country. The same Yuzhmash, although it is the head developer of Satan, would not have created it without interaction with the enterprises of the RSFSR, ”Drozdenko explained.
The expert is confident that Kiev will not dare to decide on the launch of a nuclear program, including because of the position of Western states. According to him, in Europe and the USA they recognize the inability of Ukraine to be responsible for the safety of the nuclear arsenal.
“The exploitation of nuclear weapons is a huge high-tech industry. Ukraine will have to invest tens of billions of dollars in its formation, without a guaranteed positive result. But to talk about it seriously does not make sense. Nobody needs the second Chernobyl, and, as far as I can tell, the USA has already made Kiev understand the inadmissibility of abolishing nuclear-free status, ”Drozdenko summed up.