Ukraine Treaties

Despite growing pressure from the United States to disarm, Ukrainian lawmakers Friday again postponed a vote on ratification of both the START I nuclear arms reduction treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Ukrainian government has consistently pledged to ratify both accords promptly. But in a parliamentary mutiny, lawmakers indicated that they want Ukraine to join the nuclear weapons club, at least temporarily.

Ending one of history's oldest fraternal feuds, Russia and Ukraine signed away a millennium of rivalry and resentment Saturday with a friendship treaty destined to shape a new era of relations between Europe's biggest states. With his signature on the accord pledging respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin gave up Moscow's long-running claims on Crimea.

Having calmed Western concerns about its nuclear arsenal by agreeing to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Ukraine took its own atomic anxieties to the United States on Saturday as President Leonid D. Kuchma left for a state visit. Speeding up U.S. aid to pay for the dismantling of nuclear warheads and to support Kuchma's market reforms will top the agenda of the two-day summit with President Clinton starting Tuesday.

Having calmed Western concerns about its nuclear arsenal by agreeing to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Ukraine took its own atomic anxieties to the United States on Saturday as President Leonid D. Kuchma left for a state visit. Speeding up U.S. aid to pay for the dismantling of nuclear warheads and to support Kuchma's market reforms will top the agenda of the two-day summit with President Clinton starting Tuesday.

After three years of agonized wrangling, the Ukrainian Parliament closed another Cold War chapter Wednesday by agreeing to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and surrender nuclear weapons forever.

Ending one of history's oldest fraternal feuds, Russia and Ukraine signed away a millennium of rivalry and resentment Saturday with a friendship treaty destined to shape a new era of relations between Europe's biggest states. With his signature on the accord pledging respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin gave up Moscow's long-running claims on Crimea.

After three years of agonized wrangling, the Ukrainian Parliament closed another Cold War chapter Wednesday by agreeing to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and surrender nuclear weapons forever.

Despite growing pressure from the United States to disarm, Ukrainian lawmakers Friday again postponed a vote on ratification of both the START I nuclear arms reduction treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Ukrainian government has consistently pledged to ratify both accords promptly. But in a parliamentary mutiny, lawmakers indicated that they want Ukraine to join the nuclear weapons club, at least temporarily.