FOR THE RECORD: Kuchma statement on removal of nukes (06/16/96)

FOR THE RECORD: Kuchma statement on removal of nukes

Following is the full text of a statement by the president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, released by the Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. on June 7.

On June 1, Ukraine completed the process of transferring its strategic nuclear warheads to the Russian Federation for further dismantlement under the supervision of Ukrainian observers. Thus, the Ukrainian state demonstrated to the world its faithfulness to the idea of nuclear disarmament, its striving by practical steps to bring closer the time when the peoples of our planet will be able to live without threat of nuclear destruction.

In the past, during the Cold War, the people of Ukraine were compelled to finance an exhausting nuclear arms race at the expense of their own welfare and economic development. Therefore, having declared itself the owner of the nuclear weapons inherited from the former USSR and located on its territory, Ukraine regarded these weapons not as a real military force, but first of all as a material value that should at least partially compensate for the losses incurred. A nuclear threat to mankind has never originated from independent Ukraine.

The Supreme Council was guided by these considerations when in July of 1990 it proclaimed in the Declaration of State Sovereignty that Ukraine would adhere to three non-nuclear principles: not to receive, not to produce and not to acquire nuclear weapons.

This decision was further developed in the documents and practical steps of Ukraine in the field of nuclear disarmament, and the withdrawal from Ukrainian territory of the last nuclear warhead is its logical conclusion, as well as convincing evidence of the consistency and predictability of our policy.

This historic event represents the timely and full implementation by our state of its obligations under the Trilateral Agreement of the presidents of Ukraine, the U.S.A. and Russia of January 14, 1994, and is an important contribution of Ukraine to the process of disarmament. Nevertheless, this process cannot be unilateral. It should be supported and supplemented in political and practical spheres by other countries, first of all nuclear states.

The complete elimination of nuclear weapons located on the territory of Ukraine provides a unique opportunity for realization of the idea of a nuclear-free Central and Eastern Europe, from the Black to the Baltic seas. This would promote the development of confidence among the states of the region, and significantly diminish the threat of the appearance of new lines of division on the European continent.

Ukraine greatly appreciates the assistance provided to it for the process of strategic weapons elimination. In fulfilling the international obligations taken in this field, Ukraine faces a lot of problems that it cannot solve by itself. Thus, having voluntarily renounced the third largest nuclear capacity in the world, we have the right to hope that assistance to Ukraine will continue to be provided following the complete implementation of provisions of the Trilateral Agreement of the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and the U.S.A. of January 14, 1994. We count on lasting cooperation in this field in the interests of all mankind.

Having suffered from the ruinous consequences of the Chornobyl accident, the Ukrainian people are well aware of the real threat of a catastrophe posed by nuclear weapons to mankind. Ukraine is convinced of the rightness of its non-nuclear choice and calls upon other states, first of all nuclear ones, to follow suit and to do everything possible to eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of our planet as soon as possible and forever.

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