The Ukrainian Weekly 1993

No. 49 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1993 17U.S. and Russia...(Continued from page 1)amendments introduced."The president pointed to the necessityof international support, understandingand "help in cleaning up the mess leftbehind by the extinct Soviet Union.""We emphasize: following the road ofnuclear disarmament, Ukraine expects toreceive guarantees of its national securityfrom the United States, Russia and othernuclear states, as well as financial andother assistance adequate to our needs toeliminat nuclear weapons."These are not conditions as someonewants to present them; it is the basis withoutwhich the process of elimination ofnuclear weapons is impossible. We haveno resources for that; our economic situationis complicated. We regard the nuclearweapons not as arms, but as a materialvalue and demand compensation. We considerthis requirement to be normal."The Supreme Council resolution confirmsthat the Ukrainian course to acquirea non-nuclear status remains unchangedand all the previous Supreme Councildecisions on this issue remain in force.This is the main thing," he concluded.Russian reactionAlso, on Friday, November 26, theRussian govemment rejected the UkrainianParliament's ratification of START I,accusing Ukraine of reneging on its pledgeto be non-nuclear in the future.In a three-page statement, the Russianssaid Ukraine's ratification could not berecognized because of all the pre-set conditionsbefore implementation. Russiaalso refused to service Ukraine's agingnuclear weapons."Russia has legal obligations towardUkraine, signed during the Massandrasummit/' said Borys Tarasiuk, the deputyforeign minister. "If it did not maintainUkraine's missiles, this would mean aviolation of international agreements," headded.Mr. Tarasiuk explained that Ukrainedoes not have control of the nuclearweapons on its territory, adding that italso does not have the capabilities to serviceits nuclear arsenal."The statement of the government ofthe Russian Federation is uncalled forboth in tone and in substance," addedKonstantyn Hryshchenko, the chairmanof the Department of Arms andDisarmament Division of the UkrainianForeign Ministry."This is dirty nuclear blackmail, andcould lead to a nuclear confrontation"said Volodymyr Yavorivsky, the chairmanof the Parliament's ChornobylCommittee, referring to the Russianstatement of November 26."Ukraine does not have the technologyor resources to service its warheads,"said the legislator.Yuriy Kostenko, the parliamentary cochairmanof the Working Group onSTART I and Ukraine's minister of ecology,said that "there is no basis forRussia's accusations."On Thursday, December 2, Mr.Kravchuk told reporters that Russia andUkraine will be able to come to an agreementconcerning the servicing of itsnuclear weapons."I don't want to scare anyone, but ifUkraine has a problem with its riuclearweapons, the issue does not only