Ukraine Gave Up a Giant Nuclear Arsenal 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets.

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by Kryptoncockandballs
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At the end of the Cold War, the third largest nuclear power on earth was not Britain, France or China. It was Ukraine. The Soviet collapse, a slow-motion downfall that culminated in December 1991, resulted in the newly independent Ukraine inheriting roughly 5,000 nuclear arms that Moscow had stationed on its soil. Underground silos on its military bases held long-range missiles that carried up to 10 thermonuclear warheads, each far stronger than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima. Only Russia and the United States had more weapons.

The removal of this arsenal often gets hailed as a triumph of arms control. Diplomats and peace activists cast Ukraine as a model citizen in a world of would-be nuclear powers.

But history shows the denuclearization to have been a chaotic upheaval that shook with infighting, reversals and discord among the country’s government and military. At the time, both Ukrainian and American experts questioned the wisdom of atomic disarmament. The deadly weapons, some argued, were the only reliable means of deterring Russian aggression.

Today Ukraine has no easy path to producing or acquiring the materials to build a bomb. Even so, the nuclear genie is once again stirring as Russian troops encircle the nation and wage a shadow war in its easternmost provinces.

VyvanseRefrigeration on February 5th, 2022 at 11:15 UTC »

This is pretty much a lesson, do not give up your nukes. The defense you're promised will not come.

autotldr on February 5th, 2022 at 11:01 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 92%. (I'm a bot)

The accord, known as the Budapest Memorandum, signed by Russia, Ukraine, Britain and the United States, promised that none of the nations would use force or threats against Ukraine and all would respect its sovereignty and existing borders.

Last year, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, said Kyiv might look to nuclear arms if it cannot become a member of NATO. "How else can we guarantee our defense?" Mr. Melnyk asked.

Mr. Pifer, the former ambassador to Ukraine, argued in the interview and a 2019 analysis that the high costs of rearmament would ultimately include Ukraine finding itself alone in any crisis or confrontation with Russia.

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expatdoctor on February 5th, 2022 at 10:29 UTC »

This happened to Libya too. So this is why Iran never gonna stop developing the nukes.