By Yurii Sheliazenkho, World BEYOND War, November 3, 2024
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine responded to the statement of pacifists about the inadmissibility of speculation on the topic of nuclear weapons and condemnation of the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.
The Ministry agrees that the elimination of nuclear weapons by the Russian government could become a real guarantee of peace in Europe and in the world.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also assures that, despite ongoing Russian aggression, Ukraine continues to adhere to the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and remains a responsible participant in the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
However, unfortunately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not consider its priority the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
We will continue to raise this issue. We hope that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is in charge of the state’s foreign policy, will prioritize Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The question, whether Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons could incentivise the Kremlin to tolerate Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, deserves expert discussion.
Despite there being many reasons to believe that NATO and other military alliances built on militarist great power ambitions does not make the world more safe and peaceful, the Ukrainian public widely assumes that only NATO membership could secure the future of Ukraine as a modern Western nation free from Russian imperialist yoke. It would take getting rid of great power militarism and electing pacifist leaders both in the Kremlin and in the White House to change such sentiments among the Ukrainian public.
Talking about gradual transition, let’s recall that the main reason why Russia objected to Ukrainian membership in NATO was the risk of having U.S. nukes on Russian borders via so-called nuclear sharing arrangements. Furthermore, Russia had no objections to Ukrainian membership in the EU providing that the EU remains a union of peaceful democracies. Of course, these positions represent Russian liberal thinking; there is also radical conservative thinking denying independent Ukrainian nationhood, that prevails today, but could lose grip as quickly as any real opportunity of peace by peaceful means could occur and put an end to the painful exhaustion self-inflicted in immoral and hardly successful war of aggression.
Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons without abandoning European aspirations could be considered as an honorable compromise based on universally appealing care about sanctity of life and avoidance of nuclear war threatening to kill all life on the planet. It goes in line with the 1990 Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine; it assures nuclear neutrality but not gives up on NATO membership aspirations, and, on the other hand, if NATO accepts Ukraine as a party to TPNW, it will not pose significant security risks for Russia, providing that nuclear-related concerns expressed in Moscow are genuine. It could also mitigate in the long-term perspective the sad negative attitudes of Moscow and NATO towards TPNW and thus serve the purpose of general and complete nuclear disarmament according to Article VI of NPT.
Statement on October 23, 2024, by the Ukrainian Pacifist Movment
SPECULATIONS REGARDING NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE UNACCEPTABLE, KREMLIN’S NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL IS CONDEMNABLE: STATEMENT
Ukrainian Pacifist Movement calls to appreciate and support under any circumstances the good historical choice of Ukraine not to have nuclear weapons and condemns any speculations that Ukraine might regain nuclear weapons, that contradict Ukraine’s obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
We thank the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his statement: “We never spoke about… that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this”.
We thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for the statement: “We officially deny the insinuations of unnamed sources in the BILD publication regarding Ukraine’s alleged plans to develop weapons of mass destruction. Ukraine has been and remains a committed party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which it acceded in 1994, having renounced the world’s third most powerful military nuclear capability”.
We strongly urge the Russian military and political leadership to stop nuclear blackmail and the colonial genocidal war against Ukraine, to stop the official promotion of the imperialist ideology of enmity towards the West in general and independent Ukraine in Europe in particular under the incorrect pretext of “historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians”, to withdraw troops from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and to start negotiations on reparations for damages caused by Russian aggression.
The bloody tyrant Putin should stop provoking Ukraine to remind our partners about the reservations provided for in Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of July 1, 1968”.
Nuclear weapons are dangerous because of their very existence, so, any speculation regarding nuclear weapons is unacceptable. It is possible to destroy an entire city, kill millions of people, and irreparably damage the environment and the lives of future generations due to the long-term catastrophic effects of just one nuclear explosion. Therefore, nuclear weapons must not be used, and nuclear war must not happen: otherwise all life on the common planet of all humans is at risk. For the sake of humanity’s survival, nuclear weapons must be banned.
We call on all states, including the aggressor state, NATO members, as well as Ukraine, to consider the possibility of joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: we must remember humanity, even when suffering from brutal Russian aggression. The elimination of nuclear weapons by the Russian government could become a real guarantee of peace in Europe and in the world.
