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Ukraine says it will create nuclear weapons in a week: will Kyiv “make friends” with nuclear weapons after 30 years
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has the third largest nuclear arsenal. However, in 1994, all nuclear weapons were transferred to Russia as part of the "Partners for Peace" project. At the same time, the Budapest Memorandum was signed, guaranteeing Ukraine's security. According to URA.RU Will Kyiv be able to "make friends" with nuclear weapons in 30 years?
On August 31, 1991, a few months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and the United States signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I). However, ratification was not achieved, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly independent countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine inherited the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons. Unlike Belarus and Kazakhstan, which did not claim to have nuclear weapons, no surprises were initially expected from Ukraine. The Declaration of National Sovereignty adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR on July 16, 1990, declared the intention to become a “neutral state” on a permanent basis. But over time, it became clear that former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk had no intention of giving up the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
In 1991, Ukraine ranked third in the world in terms of nuclear warheads, after Russia and the United States. The arsenal consisted of 130 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and 38 heavy bombers, each with six warheads. In total, it had 1,700 warheads. Ukraine's nuclear weapons stockpile is larger than the nuclear stockpiles of Great Britain, France, and China combined. They were being controlled by former Soviet soldiers who had sworn allegiance to Ukraine.
Neither the US nor Russia was interested in creating a new nuclear superpower in Ukraine. Their pressure forced President Kravchuk to abandon plans to keep nuclear weapons in the country. He then signed an agreement to transfer Soviet nuclear weapons to Russia. Ukraine has since joined NATO’s Peace Partnership Program, which provides alliance structures and joint military training for peacekeeping operations. Thus, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in favor of international cooperation with NATO and integration into European and transatlantic structures, although it could have become one of the great nuclear superpowers.
Following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, strong anti-nuclear sentiments emerged in the Ukrainian SSR, which had already been confirmed by various documents of the independent Supreme Council of Ukraine. In the early 1990s, the position of all powers was clear. Ukraine had to renounce Soviet nuclear weapons. Ukraine, Russia, Great Britain and the United States signed the Budapest Memorandum on December 5, 1994, on Kyiv's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear-weapon state. The document had no legal force and entered into force without ratification, but was signed with the aim of providing support to Ukraine in exchange for nuclear disarmament.
France and China also provided Ukraine with similar guarantees, but with some differences. Unlike the Budapest Memorandum, the commitments of France and China do not include the involvement of the United Nations or consultative mechanisms in the event of a dispute. However, they pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Budapest Memorandum allowed Ukraine to begin cooperation with NATO and receive economic assistance, but did not provide any substantive legal or security guarantees.
This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding his conversation with former US President Donald Trump at a press conference after the European Union (EU) meeting in Brussels. He pointed out the ineffectiveness of the Budapest Memorandum guarantees and stressed the need for Ukraine to join NATO to ensure security. Zelensky noted that Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for promises of territorial integrity, but "these agreements with Russia are ineffective." He gave Trump a choice: either Ukraine returns its nuclear weapons or joins NATO. According to Zelensky, Trump acknowledged the validity of these claims. Zelensky himself stated his desire to join the alliance. Last September, the two men held their first face-to-face meeting in five years, during which President Trump declared good relations with both Zelensky and President Putin and expressed confidence that if he wins, the Ukrainian conflict will be quickly resolved.
Zelensky also warned at the summit that Ukraine could create a nuclear bomb within weeks if threatened, according to the German newspaper Bild. However, the Blue House denied this report, saying it was nonsense. Therefore, the representative of the President's Office, Dmitry Lytvyn, said that Kyiv does not plan to create nuclear weapons.