Leaving Nukes in Ukraine Wasn't the Answer
Source: wsj.com
- A Wall Street Journal opinion piece argues against leaving U.S.-supplied nuclear weapons in Ukraine after the Soviet Union's collapse.
- Ukraine gave up the third-largest nuclear arsenal in 1994 in exchange for security promises from the U.S., UK, and Russia that failed to prevent Russia's 2022 invasion.
- The piece warns that keeping nukes would have led to worse chaos, like nuclear-armed Ukraine fighting Russia today.
The article is an opinion by William A. Tobey rebutting calls to arm Ukraine with nuclear weapons now or regrets over its 1990s denuclearization. It recounts how Ukraine inherited Soviet nukes but relinquished them under the Budapest Memorandum, receiving assurances instead. The core argument is that giving up the weapons was the right call to avoid nuclear proliferation and escalation. This matters because it challenges narratives pushing for nuclear armament amid Russia's war, highlighting ris