 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Ukraine Will Not House Nuclear Weapons If It Joins NATO: Minister
Kiev (AFP) Jun 30, 2005 Ukraine will not allow the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory by NATO members if it joins the alliance, Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko said Thursday. "If someone is convinced that after Ukraine joins NATO there will be nuclear weapons on our territory, I want to assure them: there will be no nuclear weapons on our territory," Interfax quoted Grytsenko as saying. The administration of President Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power last year vowing to steer ex-Soviet Ukraine toward membership in both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, has been struggling to overcome deep public mistrust of the Cold War-era alliance. A May opinion survey showed that 55.7 percent of the Ukrainians were against their country joining NATO, up from 48 percent in February. NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who visited Kiev earlier this week, sought to reassure sceptical Ukrainians, saying that the alliance had changed since its Cold War-era beginnings. "I know that many people here in Ukraine still think of the Cold War when they think of NATO," Scheffer said Monday. But the alliance today "is a different NATO than the NATO of the Cold War... Today's NATO is designed to help provide security in a new world." Separately, Grytsenko said that NATO members were ready to give Ukraine up to 10 billion euros toward a program to decrease its weapons stockpiles and that Kiev hoped to destroy up to 20,000 tons of weapons with the funds. Details of the program were still being worked out and would have to be approved by the Ukrainian government, he said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
World Powers Threaten Defiant Iran Over Nuclear Crisis
Vienna (AFP) Jan 11, 2006World powers threatened Iran with UN Security Council sanctions Wednesday after it resumed sensitive nuclear activities as a defiant Tehran vowed to press ahead with its disputed atomic programme. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
