(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Why Ukraine Should Withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-11-19  

Today I’ll skip the preamble and jump right in. Ukraine should give formal and immediate notice to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). While this will be a shock to many, there is a strong feeling in Ukraine that the international agreements that Ukraine entered into have clearly failed and that the fate of the Ukrainian state and its people were put on the line for an international agenda.

Now that international agenda was a noble one, to stop the expansion and proliferation of nuclear weapons and its technology. When the Soviet Union fell, there was a palpable fear in Washington and Europe that new, impoverished nations such as Ukraine, along with Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan would become nuclear bazaars that would sell ready-made nuclear weapons technology to hostile states such as Iran, Iraq (at the time) or North Korea. Ukraine was a key component in the Soviet nuclear weapons program, particularity in the areas of rocket technology, guidance and delivery systems. And then, Ukraine suddenly overnight became the third largest nuclear weapons state in the world with a complete arsenal of ICBM’s, tactical yield weapons and heavy bombers.

While the arming and launch codes were held in Moscow, Ukraine at the time was trying to circumvent them. When that proved to beyond Ukraine capability, they acceded to the Budapest Memorandum and transferred their nuclear arsenal to Russia for security assurances and entrance into the NPT. However even in 1993 there were some, such as John Mearsheimer, who believed that Ukraine should retain a nuclear deterrent to discourage a Russian invasion.

Fast forward to today and the result of the Budapest Memorandum and subsequent treaties with Russia is obvious to all. Russia has launched an overt war of conquest whose stated goals are the total subjugation of Ukraine and the removal of it’s elected government by force.

Now, going back to the NPT, the reason that Ukraine is in its vulnerable position of now being invaded by the largest nuclear power in the world is because of both Russian and Western assurances that Ukraine no longer needed a nuclear deterrent to ensure its security. Instead, Russia has repeatedly threatened from government officials to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine while launching their invasion into country.

Let’s take a look at the NPT and see what it says about leaving which is in Article X. Any country may leave the treaty with 90 days notice and a clear justification as to why. The overt invasion by a nuclear-armed state, without any recognized casus belli by the United Nations and the repeated threat to use nuclear weapons against both military and civilian targets is more than reason enough for Ukraine to withdraw from the treaty.

As it states in the treaty’s preamble, “the consequent need to make every effort to avert the danger of such a war” was broken by Russia, which means the treaty itself has failed in the context between Russia and Ukraine. Not to mention that NATO also applies the same interpretation as the key supporting argument for its nuclear weapons sharing agreement.

Leaving the NPT does not mean that Ukraine will pursue a nuclear weapons program. Simply it gives formal notice that Ukraine re-acquires the sovereign right to do so due to the failure of the NPT and the supporting treaties Ukraine agreed to, namely the Budapest Memorandum.

This will give clear notice to both Western capitals and to Russia that Ukraine’s sovereignty, security and even its very existence is not a joke. And if the West fails to strongly and consistently deter Russian aggression, then Ukraine does have other options including reopening Pandora’s box of nuclear armament.

Sources:

1. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: en.wikipedia.org/…

2. Budapest Memorandum: en.wikipedia.org/...

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/19/2206757/-Why-Ukraine-Should-Withdraw-from-the-Nuclear-Non-Proliferation-Treaty?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/