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1800 nuclear bombs for $300 million? Why did Ukraine, the third nuclear power, abolish its martial arts?
Hello doctors, here is a doctor who accompanies you to talk about science and technology and history.
Recently, everyone's eyes have been drawn to the Eastern European continent. Ukraine shakes people online for a while to upgrade the network cable, and the next moment to threaten you with this I will do...
Among the many "big moves", I noticed a detail that you may have overlooked: Ukraine once threatened to withdraw from the Budapest Memorandum.
Is this a divine horse thing? Simply put, Ukraine is talking about re-building nuclear weapons.
As soon as this news came out, the international community was immediately filled with an awkward atmosphere, because no one took this seriously.
And this also leads to a secret history that we are familiar with but do not know much about. Imagine that Ukraine was a nuclear power in the Soviet camp and the third nuclear power after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but less than 5 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine destroyed all the nuclear weapons in its home and became a non-nuclear country.
How strong was Ukraine's nuclear forces?
Second, what is the "bitterness" behind Ukraine's nuclear abandonment?
Does Ukraine still have the capability to remanufacture nuclear weapons?
In this issue, we'll take a look at how Ukraine is abandoning its martial arts.
Generally third in the world?
Nuclear weapons are by far the most powerful weapons of mankind. Although no one except Japan has really experienced it, no one does not tremble when it comes to the power of nuclear weapons.
At present, there are 9 countries in the world that are considered to possess nuclear weapons, and only five have the second generation of nuclear weapons.
It was the Soviet Union that once built Ukraine into a nuclear power.
During the Cold War, as the western gateway of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was a base against NATO. The Soviet Union set up a large number of intercontinental missiles here, either aimed at Washington or London. There are also strategic bombers moored in Ukraine, ready to take off and open the way for a torrent of steel.
By the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 42 strategic bombers had been deployed on Ukrainian soil, which could carry more than 1,500 nuclear bombs. In addition, there are hundreds of tactical nuclear weapons, for a total of more than 1800 nuclear bombs.
According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, the total number of nuclear warheads in all countries in the world except the United States and Russia in 2020 is 1275. This also made Ukraine the world's third nuclear power in the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union, with far more nuclear bombs than China, Britain and France combined.
Don't do this nuclear weapon!
Such a sudden appearance of a nuclear power out of thin air, no one can calm down. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, a bunch of countries over there ran to Kiev to persuade them: "Ermao obeyed, nuclear weapons are very deep in the water, you can't grasp it, hurry up and destroy it." ”
The United States, Western Europe, and Russia have reached an unprecedented agreement.
The United States is simple, most of these nuclear bombs are directed at itself. The object of the previous dealings was the Soviet Union, although horizontal, but still know the roots. This Ukraine who knows what kind of people will be in power in the future, in case one day they fall ill and throw a few hairs, how will the small life of the American people still be lived.
The ideas of Western European countries, like those of the United States, were hard to survive until the Collapse of the Soviet Union, and as a result, these nuclear bombs were still aimed at them.
As for Russia, although these nuclear bombs are not aimed at themselves now, Bao Buqi will turn his gun to Moscow one day.
As a result, a set of abandonment packages, including financial compensation, loan assistance, and security guarantees, was introduced specifically for Ukraine.
The first to appear was the United States, as the victor of the "Cold War", the posture of the United States was naturally high, almost in a commanding tone, demanding that Ukraine must immediately destroy its nuclear weapons, declaring that "in Ukraine ... Becoming a non-nuclear state... Previously, it could not establish relations with the United States in other areas. ”
After Clinton was elected president in 1992, he refused to meet with the Ukrainian president and threatened to interrupt economic assistance to demand that Ukraine hurry up.
However, Ukraine is in the end a Slav, eating soft and not eating hard, directly reversed! Then-President Kravchuk said publicly that "we don't want to win applause by giving up nuclear weapons and then be forgotten." ”
The first President of Ukraine, Kravchuk
The United States sees that since the threat is useless, it will change its strategy and negotiate terms with you.
In May 1992, Clinton sent envoy Talbot to Kiev, during which he publicly announced that a "partnership" would be concluded between the United States and Ukraine to replace the previous "pressure policy." The United States is not only committed to considering Ukraine's security demands and developing political and economic relations between the United States and Ukraine, but is also willing to act as a mediator of contradictions between Ukraine and Russia.
In June, the United States renewed its commitment that it would provide security protections for Ukraine, especially against its neighbor Russia, along with more than $175 million in economic compensation. Seeing that the "persuasion" of the United States was fruitful, Russia and Western Europe immediately followed suit.
Since 1992, Russia has not only agreed to help Ukraine destroy its nuclear weapons free of charge, but has also been willing to share the proceeds of its weapons sale with enriched uranium, which alone will give Ukraine $1 billion.
Western European countries, led by the United Kingdom, agreed to give Ukraine economic assistance after its abandonment and to provide loans to Ukraine through international institutions.
Thanks to the efforts of all parties, in 1994, the United States, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Moscow. Ukraine was required to ship nuclear weapons to Russia for destruction within 7 years, and as compensation, the United States provided Ukraine with $175 million in compensation and $155 million in economic assistance. Russia, on the other hand, not only cancelled part of Ukraine's debt, but also promised to supply Ukraine with natural gas at preferential prices.
In order to show the generosity of what I say I do,
Immediately after the agreement, the IMF and the World Bank provided Ukraine with two loans of $1.5 billion and $700 million.
In December 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum of Security guarantees with the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom, which was the one that Ukraine was going to withdraw from at the beginning.
There are six articles in the Memorandum.
Respect for the independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine.
2. Undertake not to use force or threaten Ukraine's territorial integrity and political independence.
Undertake not to subordinate Ukraine to their economic or security interests through economic coercion.
After committing Ukraine to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear Power, if Ukraine faces or is in danger of aggression, the three countries will immediately push the UN Security Council to take measures to help Ukraine.
Undertake to comply with the obligation not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom shall discuss issues related to the above commitments.
The gist is that Ukraine gives up its nuclear weapons, and the Three States, Britain, and Russia will come to the aid of Ukraine when Ukraine is invaded.
At this point, thanks to the efforts of many parties, Ukraine agreed to eliminate nuclear weapons. When the implementation really began, the international community found that Ukraine's nuclear abandonment rate can be said to be quite fast, faster than the process of signing a series of agreements.
Just two years later, on June 1, 1996, Ukrainian President Kuchma announced that all of Ukraine's nuclear warheads had been shipped and ukraine had officially become a non-nuclear state.
Ukraine also has grievances?
Ukraine's abandonment of nuclear weapons is simply incomprehensible in the eyes of many people, and the Zhenguo artifact says that if you don't want it, you don't want it. Putting your own safety in the hands of someone else? I can't think straight!
But in fact, Ukraine also has an unspeakable secret, and those big killers were indeed hot potatoes at that time.
First, the maintenance fee is too high.
The annual cost of maintaining 1,800 nuclear bombs is estimated to cost at least hundreds of millions of dollars. At that time, Ukraine was undergoing shock treatment, the original economic system had completely collapsed, hundreds of factories in the country had been shut down, and the vast majority of the country's citizens were living below the poverty line.
By 1994, Ukraine's foreign debt had reached $7 billion, and it couldn't even pay the salaries of its soldiers, making it impossible to pay for the expensive cost of maintaining nuclear weapons.
Second, there will be and will not be maintained.
During the Soviet era, 80% of nuclear experts were in Russia. And these nuclear weapons are produced by the Soviet Union, the manufacturing time is different, many are close to the security service period, if not dealt with as soon as possible, Ukraine itself is difficult to deal with, then these nuclear bombs will become a time bomb.
You know, the Chernobyl accident that shocked the world occurred in Ukraine, and on the people's fear of nuclear, Ukraine may rank second in the world. As for who is the first, I think everyone knows.
Accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Third, we should express our sincerity to Europe and the United States by abandoning nuclear weapons.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the original economic exchange system completely collapsed, and the Ukrainian economy was in trouble, pinning its hopes on the assistance of Europe and the United States. Europe and the United States said that any economic negotiations must be premised on the abandonment of nuclear weapons.
Therefore, with a combination of internal and external factors, the Ukrainian top level decided to eliminate all nuclear weapons.
But the elimination of nuclear weapons is not the consensus of all Ukrainian citizens. According to the survey, about 40% of the people want to continue to have nuclear weapons, they believe that without nuclear weapons, there is no reliable and effective national defense. Only by retaining nuclear weapons can we win the respect of the West.
And even among those who support denuclearization, there are quite a few who think the government's decisions are too rash. The destruction of nuclear weapons should be used as a bargaining chip for Ukraine to gain more benefits.
They believe that nuclear weapons in Ukraine are Ukraine's property, and their fate should be decided by Ukraine itself, whether the United States or Russia must show sincerity if Ukraine wants to destroy nuclear weapons, and Ukraine can "sell to those who are willing to pay a high price."
Makes a lot of sense, but does anyone listen? Nature is nobody's!
Nuclear-free in exchange for something
Eventually, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for international space and economic assistance, but also completely surrendered its security to others.
Does Ukraine really have no nuclear option? Nor is this the case. 1,800 nuclear bombs is indeed too many, but Ukraine is not so poor that it cannot afford to raise them at all.
The western plains of Ukraine are agriculturally developed and known as the granaries of Europe, while the eastern regions have developed industries left over from the Soviet Union. It is incomplete, but it is completely sufficient for Ukraine.
So Ukraine's economic conditions are very superior, while reducing the number of nuclear weapons, it is not impossible to continue to maintain suitable nuclear weapons, but Ukraine is obviously very eager to completely throw away these Soviet-era "baggage".
Why is Ukraine in such a hurry? Because Ukraine's national identity went wrong.
Modern countries all need to construct a strong national identity to maintain cohesion, and the key to identity lies in distinction, in emphasizing the "difference" from the other.
The national identity of ordinary countries is constructed through common blood, history, and culture, shaping a common collective memory. But for Ukraine, this road is difficult.
Historically, Ukraine and Russia were one nation, which were briefly separated for some reasons, but were reunited again in the Soviet Union. Many studies simply believe that Ukraine was actually made by the Soviet Union. How can such a close relationship be distinguished?
The method used by Ukraine is: "hate mobilization".
After independence, Ukraine constantly emphasized the injustices it suffered during the Soviet period, describing the history of the Soviet period as the history of Ukraine's oppression, thus distinguishing itself from the Soviet Union's successor Russia.
The Great Famine in Ukraine
As a result, Ukraine, the second largest republic in the Soviet Union, quickly changed its identity into an "anti-Soviet demon."
In this case, what the Soviet Union left behind was no longer a valuable legacy, but a burden to be eager to get rid of, first and foremost these nuclear weapons that instinctively protected Ukraine.
Ukraine has made unremitting efforts to join the European and American camps, and the elimination of nuclear weapons is only part of it. But did Europe and the United States really help Ukraine out of its predicament? Apparently not.
The economic assistance provided by Europe and the United States is only a drop in the bucket, and Ukraine's economic situation has been sluggish for a long time. The standard of living of Ukrainians today is much lower than it was in the Soviet era, and Ukraine is even known as the "womb of Europe".
As for Ukraine's repeated applications to the EU for membership, the EU's attitude has always been "next time must".
So in 2022, when Zelenskiy claimed to withdraw from the Budapest Memorandum, no one really took him seriously, and everyone knew that Ukraine was just a mouthful. Yet 30 years ago, no one would have taken Ukraine's voice lightly on nuclear issues.
It can be said that to this step today, the source is the decision they made at the beginning, and they can only bear it themselves.
Well, this issue of the content is over, like the small partner more like to pay attention to it, we will see you in the next issue.
bibliography:
1. Nuclear Nonproliferation from the Perspective of the Ukraine Crisis : On the Budapest Memorandum of Security Assurances, Wong Tak Ming
2. Re-examine the role of weapons, Li Bin
3. A review of Ukraine's nuclear-weapon-free journey, Jiang Zhiwu
4. The unresolved grievances - the contradictions and conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Zhang Yao
5. Why Ukraine is reluctant to hand over its nuclear weapons, Zhang Lusheng
6. Distribution of nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union, cold release
7. The United States, Russia and Ukraine have reached an agreement on the destruction of Ukraine's nuclear weapons, He Zhong
8. Nuclear weapons – a trump card of Ukraine, Zhang Liangfu
9. Dismantle the main points of ukraine's nuclear weapons agreement, that brake
10. The tactical nuclear weapons deployed in the three countries of Uzbekistan have all been withdrawn to Russia, Shoje
11. Several basic issues in the construction of the Ukrainian army, Dong Xiaoyang