Ukrainian OKs Global Control of Nuclear Arms

The Ukrainian defense chief embraced a U.S. proposal Monday to put the nuclear warheads in his country under international control. U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin said he hopes to “nail down” details of the plan soon.

Still unresolved are Russia’s objections to the warheads remaining in Ukraine. Russia’s defense chief told Aspin on Sunday that Moscow insists that the warheads be taken to Russia for dismantling.

Ukraine is concerned that the nearly 2,000 warheads, most designed for the 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles remaining here, could wind up back in the Russian arsenal and leave a non-nuclear Ukraine vulnerable to Russian threats.

Aspin, in weekend talks with Russian Defense Minister Pavel S. Grachev in Germany and a series of meetings in Kiev on Sunday and Monday with government officials and members of the Ukrainian Parliament, attempted a delicate balancing act. He tried to reassure Ukraine that Russia poses no security threat and to convince the Russians that he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Ukraine.

Konstantin Morozov, the Ukrainian defense minister, told a news conference after his meeting with Aspin that he is inclined to support a U.S. proposal to place Ukraine’s nuclear warheads under international control on Ukraine’s soil, then later move them to Russia to extract the highly enriched uranium fuel.

“I have a generally positive attitude about that proposal,” Morozov said, adding he wanted more details.

Members of Parliament who met with Aspin on Monday before he returned to the United States said they did not specifically discuss the new U.S. proposal with him.

According to Deputy Ihor Dercacz, who was at the meeting, Dmytro Pavlychko, chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Commission, declared that the nuclear weapons in Ukraine are Ukrainian property and that joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear nation) is unacceptable.

Dercacz said Aspin did not rise to the bait, keeping the discussion general instead. The deputy, who said he personally sees the proposal as a welcome sign of U.S. flexibility on implementation of the START I nuclear arms control treaty, also said “Russia will never agree to any Ukrainian control” over the warheads.

Aspin said the Ukrainians liked the idea of international control of the disputed warheads.

“They have a lot of questions,” Aspin said. “We’re going to have some follow-up meetings to nail down the specifics, but their attitude was positive.”