Ukraine Disarmament Deal Met With a Note of Disdain : Weapons: Historic agreement is overshadowed by nationalist sensitivity. Some say Clinton was condescending.

Even before President Leonid Kravchuk signed a historic agreement with the United States and Russia on Friday to give up all of Ukraine’s nuclear weapons, the headlines here were scornful.

On the morning of the signing ceremony in Moscow, three of Kiev’s leading newspapers reported not on the details of the groundbreaking trilateral accord but on what some Ukrainians considered to be condescending behavior by President Clinton during his two-hour visit to Kiev late Wednesday.

Clinton kept Kravchuk waiting on the tarmac of Boryspil Airport in freezing temperatures for at least 12 minutes before descending from Air Force One. The visit ended, the Kiev Vedemosti newspaper said, “with the absolutely tactless joke by Clinton that ‘If he did not have such an important job, I would invite President Kravchuk to the United States to run my press conferences.’ ”

The joke was clearly intended to laud Kravchuk’s skill in handling the fierce White House press corps. But to some Ukrainians, it sounded as though Clinton fancied Kravchuk his lackey.

Kiev Vedemosti said the meeting was meant “to put Ukraine in its place,” and two other newspapers trumpeted Clinton’s remark in Page One headlines. Though the flap will pass, it shows how dicey it will be for Kravchuk to sell his balky Parliament and nervous public on a disarmament deal--even one that the White House has bent over backward to make palatable.

Clinton praised Kravchuk’s “courage and vision” in agreeing to dismantle Ukraine’s 1,800 nuclear warheads in exchange for fuel, economic aid and security guarantees. But many lawmakers still view with suspicion the U.S.-sponsored initiative to denuclearize their nation.

Ukrainian nationalists are still fuming over the so-called “Chicken Kiev” speech by former President George Bush here in 1991. Bush argued that Ukraine should drop its bid for independence and remain part of a newly democratic Soviet Union.

Clinton and his aides have been careful to avoid any suggestion that the United States views Ukraine--a country larger than France--as a junior political partner.

The United States is offering at least $155 million in economic aid. Equally important are security guarantees that Kravchuk can present to Ukrainians anxious that a Russia led by neo-fascist Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky might try to seize the Crimean peninsula from a disarmed Ukraine.

The trilateral statement says that Clinton, Kravchuk and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin “reiterated that they will deal with one another as full and equal partners and that relations among their countries must be conducted on the basis of respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of each nation.”

Kravchuk underlined the “inviolability” of Ukraine’s borders in remarks later Friday.

Saying that nationalism “always tends to spill over the boundaries of any single state,” Kravchuk warned that if Zhirinovsky prevails in Russia, Ukraine will not be the only victim.

The agreement does not bind the United States or Russia to intervene if Ukraine is attacked.

An attachment to the statement signed Friday says that Ukraine will eliminate all nuclear weapons on its territory within seven years. But Ukraine will deactivate the SS-24 missiles, the most powerful in the Ukrainian arsenal, within 10 months.

The attachment, whose contents had not previously been made public, states that within 10 months, Russia must give Ukraine 100 tons of uranium fuel for use in nuclear power plants, and Ukraine must send Russia at least 200 nuclear warheads from SS-19 and SS-24 missiles for dismantling.

The United States will pay Russia a $60-million advance against payments Russia will eventually receive for reprocessing the uranium from the Ukrainian warheads for use as enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants.

A clear majority of Ukrainians say they see no reason to keep the atomic missiles left on their soil after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

“The fewer nuclear weapons we have, the more peacefully we will live,” said Julia Dmitrienko, 40, an engineer.

“What are we going to do with them--fight Russia?” said Vladimir Nazaruk, 45, a Kiev building official. “No one would win.”

But they want “fair compensation” for the weapons. As Parliament put that sum at $3 billion, Kravchuk will have to try to convince voters and lawmakers that the current deal--by some estimates worth about $1 billion--is the best he can get.

A poll published Thursday found that 17.4% of Ukrainians would agree unconditionally to exchange the weapons in return for oil and gas and 31.4% would agree to such a deal if absolutely necessary. The Socis-Gallup poll found that 36% oppose giving up the weapons.

Kravchuk has not yet indicated whether he will try to persuade the current Parliament to accept the agreement, present it to the new Parliament to be elected March 27 or insist that the “statement” signed Friday is not a treaty and thus does not require parliamentary ratification. Lawmakers have already said they will insist on the right to decide.

Key lawmakers, including the Speaker of the Parliament and his deputy, have been silent on the deal. Neither met Clinton at the airport.

Kravchuk supporters say the economic crisis has become so acute--Ukraine’s monthly inflation rate hit 80% in December, compared to 12% in Russia--that even hard-line lawmakers will be inclined to compromise.

“The man (Kravchuk) has signed a paper saying he can do it,” one senior American official said. “Am I 200% sure he can deliver? Let’s see how it plays. He has a lot of incentives.”

But pro-nuclear lawmaker Serhij Semenets said Kravchuk’s authority has been eroded.

“Kravchuk does lobby, but the deputies are less and less influenced,” he said. “It’s considered unseemly to support Kravchuk.”

Lawmaker Tatiana Jakheeva joked that America has nothing to fear--even from a nuclear Ukraine.

“Don’t be afraid of us,” she said. “The worst Ukraine can do to America is send Kravchuk to be (Clinton’s) press secretary.”

Special correspondent Mary Mycio contributed to this report.

Global Gun Control

The agreement to peacefully dismantle Ukraine’s huge nuclear arsenal signed in Moscow on Friday would work like this:

1. Ukraine ships warheads to Siberia, where Russian technicians extract the highly enriched uranium and turn it into less powerful civilian reactor fuel. The United States has offered to help pay for the cost of dismantling the weapons.

2. In return, Ukraine receives fuel rods for its civilian power plants and debt relief from Russia.

3. The United States, Russia and Britain provide security assurances to Ukraine.

4. To sweeten the deal, the White House is offering Ukraine at least $155 million in economic aid.

Mining a Missile

The deadly part of a nuclear missile--the warheads--resemble upside down ice cream cones. Within their highly protective walls is highly enriched uranium. Under the agreement, the uranium taken from Russian and Ukrainian warheads will be converted into low-enriched uranium, which can be used as fuel for nuclear power plants. Once weapons-grade uranium is converted into low-enriched uranium, it can’t be used in nuclear bombs. Russia will sell uranium to the United States Enrichment Corp., which will use the material to supply nuclear power stations around the world.

Current Nuclear Matchups U.S.:

Intercontinental ballistic missiles: 800

Warheads: 2,250 Russia:

Intercontinental ballistic missiles: 688

Warheads: 3,880 Ukraine

Intercontinental ballistic missiles: 176

Warheads: 1,250