Why did Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons?
On the cold morning of 26 December 1991, the red flag of the Soviet Union slowly descended on the Red Square in Moscow. The Soviet Union, the world's second largest superpower, had fallen but behind this historical moment there was another story hidden and that story was Of Ukraine. With the breakup of the Soviet Union Ukraine suddenly finds itself in a new era. A country which is now independent but has a heavy burden on its shoulders and this burden is thousands of nuclear weapons, 1700 nuclear war heads, 33 bombers and 130 intercontinental ballistic missiles. This figure made the fledgling country the third largest nuclear power in the world. Ukraine does not have this nuclear weapon today, if Ukraine had it then perhaps Russia would not have attacked it. Don't even think about it and perhaps the Russia-Ukraine war would not have arisen. That is why one of the most relevant questions in history is why Ukraine handed over its nuclear weapons to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union? What happened in Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union? Will know the story in today's article.
Burden of nuclear legacy
Let's start before the collapse of the Soviet Union. We know about the Cold War. There was tension between America and the Soviet Union for a long time, it was a matter of luck that the two super powers never directly clashed with each other during this period. The main reason for this was nuclear weapons. To deal with America and especially NATO, the Soviet Union had deployed a large number of nuclear weapons on its western border, i.e. in Ukraine. So that if the situation ever arises, Europe and North America can be directly targeted, but when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, the nuclear weapons present in Ukraine became a headache for it. Not only for Ukraine, but both America and Russia were also worried about what would happen next with these weapons of mass destruction?
In January 1992, the new President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, takes a bold step. He announces that nuclear weapons will now be under the direct supervision of the new government but this is where he gets caught. Military general of Ukraine who till a few days ago was a general of the Soviet Union. They refuse to take an oath of loyalty to an independent Ukraine. President Leonid Kravchuk had one option that he could hand over these weapons to some other nuclear superpower country. In such a situation, some other country would have taken responsibility for these weapons. The eyes of the world were fixed on Ukraine. Both America and Russia wanted Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons but then this matter took the form of a political crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine's thinking on nuclear weapons
Debate broke out in the Ukrainian parliament. Some leaders believed that this weapon was a guarantee of Ukraine's security. Others believed that it was a dangerous burden that should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. The matter remained pending for a year, although some small steps were definitely taken. In May 1992 Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Under this, these countries had to limit the number of their nuclear weapons, but after a few months Ukraine took such a step. Which further increased the concern of both America and Russia. The government declared nuclear weapons as national property. This meant that Ukraine would now become a nuclear power however this did not happen. Despite all the efforts of Ukraine, it had to give up those nuclear weapons.
Read this also : Nuclear deal, Khalistan, Trudeau- 100 years of history of India-Canada relations
Ukraine's thinking on nuclear weapons
Debate broke out in the Ukrainian parliament. Some leaders believed that this weapon was a guarantee of Ukraine's security. Others believed that it was a dangerous burden that should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. The matter remained pending for a year, although some small steps were definitely taken. In May 1992 Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Under this, these countries had to limit the number of their nuclear weapons, but after a few months Ukraine took such a step. Which further increased the concern of both America and Russia. The government declared nuclear weapons as national property. This meant that Ukraine would now become a nuclear power however this did not happen. Despite all the efforts of Ukraine, it had to give up those nuclear weapons.
In April 1993, 162 Ukrainian parliamentarians signed a document. Some conditions were written in this document. Guarantee of national sovereignty and security, international assistance in destruction of weapons, economic compensation in exchange for uranium and plutonium. This document of conditions was handed over to Russia and America. Initially both rejected the demands but Ukraine remained adamant on its point. Ultimately America proposed additional economic assistance. After which Ukraine signed an agreement in December 1994.
What was the Budapest Memorandum?
On 5 December 1994, Ukraine, Russia, America and Britain signed a document in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Which is known as Budapest Memorandum. This agreement included five things that all countries would respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and existing borders. No country will use force against Ukraine nor will any such threat be made. Economic pressure will also not be put on Ukraine. If there is a nuclear attack on Ukraine, it will immediately get help from the UN Security Council. Countries with nuclear weapons will not attack Ukraine. After this agreement, Ukraine had to destroy all its nuclear weapons within 7 years but Ukraine completed this work before 1 year. By 2001, all warheads and missiles were returned to Russia and all missile silos were closed. But was this decision right? In 2024 we can say that this decision proved wrong for Ukraine.
Read this also : Why was Indian currency used in Pakistan?
Right intention, wrong result
From the perspective of history, the impact of Ukraine's decision became visible only in 2014. When Russia annexed Crimea. After the passage of history, it is easy to decide what was right or wrong, but the statements of some former Ukrainian officials show that apprehensions were still rising in Ukraine. Volodymyr Tuluko, former Ukrainian missile base commander, made a statement in parliament in 1992. In which he had said that Ukraine should keep at least some missiles for its defense in future. International relations expert John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago also had similar apprehensions. In 1993 he had said that it was mandatory for Ukraine to have nuclear weapons. If we look at the recent times, there are some other countries which paid a heavy price due to nuclear weapons.
Example of Libya: Libyan dictator Mohammad Gaddafi wanted to acquire nuclear weapons during his lifetime but failed. If Libya had nuclear weapons, America might not have dared to intervene. A similar example is from Iran. Iran has been trying to develop nuclear weapons for a long time and a major reason behind this is enmity with America and Israel. The example of Ukraine is even more relevant in this matter because it has set a dangerous precedent. Marianna Budgerin is a researcher at Harvard University and is considered an expert on Ukraine affairs. In the book named INHERITING THE BOMB, she writes that was it a mistake for Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons? Its impact on the policies of the world's governments may be visible late, but this idea is becoming popular at the public level. People believe that nuclear weapons guarantee security. Mariana further writes that in the last three decades, rapid steps have been taken for nuclear weapons reduction and nuclear non-proliferation, but the example of Ukraine is dangerous because if there is a country that gives up its weapons and then becomes a nuclear power country. If it becomes a target, it is a very wrong signal for other countries. We hope that this information will be of some help to you in understanding the significance and intricacies of the Russia-Ukraine War. Especially when this war is not showing any sign of stopping and the talk of nuclear attack starts rising every day.
In the end, let us tell you an interesting story related to this issue. It was in the 1970s that a dialogue was going on between US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Soviet diplomat Anatoly Dobrynin on nuclear weapons and the talks dragged on for several days. Both of them were very tired and were troubled by the slow pace of conversation. In such a situation, Kissinger who was famous for his dry humor. He jokingly asked Dobrynin if we could settle this over a game of chess and without wasting any time Dobrynin replied, “Absolutely Dr. Kissinger, but first we have to agree on the rules of the game and that would take the same amount of time.”
Anil Paal
0 Comments