Turning the pages back... September 30, 1993 (09/28/03)

Turning the pages back...

September 30, 1993

A decade ago at the United Nations, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko appeared before the General Assembly to reassert that Ukraine had begun dismantling its nuclear weapons, but reiterating that it would need large-scale financial assistance to complete the process.

He spoke on September 30 in the opening week of the General Assembly's 48th session, at a time when there is literally a parade of heads of government and state leaders who propose the agenda for the new session.

The foreign minister asked the assemblage, "Where do we get the money to dismantle and eliminate the strategic nuclear weapons located in Ukraine?" He added, "According to our estimates, approximately $2.8 billion are needed for these purposes." He also expressed his concern about guaranteeing Ukraine's national security once the missiles are gone, as well as about the military servicemen who would no longer have positions once the missile forces are liquidated.

In a far-ranging speech, Minister Zlenko went on to reassert that Crimea was and would continue to be an integral part of Ukrainian territory and expressed his gratitude to the U.N. Security Council for supporting Ukraine in its controversy with Russia over possession of the territory. He warned the body that imperial thinking developed over centuries does not vanish with a change in government, alluding to Russia's continued harassment of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. He specifically referred to instability in Georgia and called on the United Nations to help "bring the situation back to a course of settlement through political dialogue."

The foreign affairs minister acknowledged the dire situation of the economy in Ukraine, but reaffirmed the nation's goal of a market-oriented economy. He suggested that the Ukrainian diaspora could spur foreign economic investment through its business and political contacts.

Minister Zlenko also emphasized the negative effect Ukraine's support for the U.N. action in the former Yugoslavia has had on its economy. He said that in addition to the loss of Ukrainian life associated with Ukraine's deployment of military units to support the peacekeeping effort, "Ukraine will suffer direct losses of more than $4 billion (U.S.) in the state sector alone."

Finally, the foreign minister asked that the United Nations forego the 58 percent increase in contributions by Ukraine to the U.N. budget adopted last year. He explained that Ukraine could better utilize these funds to solve the overwhelming problems associated with the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.

Source: "Zlenko addresses United Nations," The Ukrainian Weekly, October 10, 1993, Vol. LXI, No. 41.

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