Ukraine Begins to Dismantle 10 of Its Nuclear Missiles
Technicians have begun dismantling 10 of 176 former Soviet strategic nuclear missiles in Ukraine to prepare them for transfer to Russia, the newspaper Izvestia said Friday.
But it said the warheads removed from SS-19 rockets would be held in Ukraine pending the outcome of a debate on disarmament in the former Soviet republic.
The warheads are the focus of a protracted debate in the Ukrainian Parliament over whether to approve the START I and Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaties and give up nuclear weapons for good.
Opposition to rapid ratification, once confined to a handful of nationalists, has swelled in recent weeks to include Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma.
The United States has urged Ukraine to uphold the obligations it undertook when it became a party to START I last year, though Defense Secretary Les Aspin said he understood Ukrainian concerns after talks in Kiev last month.
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