Immediately after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine retained one third of the Soviet nuclear arsenal.
It included:
This arsenal totalled approximately 1,700 warheads remained on Ukrainian territory. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to give the weapons back to Russia and it joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In recognition of this, the Budapest Memorandum was signed, in which the US, UK and Russia effectively promised to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and to not use nuclear arms against Ukraine.
But what would need to happen in order for Ukraine to keep it's nuclear arsenal and what would happen if there was a nuclear weapons state on Russia's border?
It included:
- 130 UR-100N intercontinental ballistic missiles with six warheads each
- 46 RT-23 Molodet ICBMs with ten warheads apiece
- 33 heavy bombers
This arsenal totalled approximately 1,700 warheads remained on Ukrainian territory. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to give the weapons back to Russia and it joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In recognition of this, the Budapest Memorandum was signed, in which the US, UK and Russia effectively promised to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and to not use nuclear arms against Ukraine.
But what would need to happen in order for Ukraine to keep it's nuclear arsenal and what would happen if there was a nuclear weapons state on Russia's border?