Ukraine (Hansard, 13 December 1993)

§ Mr. Gapes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the ratification of the START—strategic arms reduction talks—1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
We issued a statement on 30 November about the Ukrainian Parliament's resolution which ratified the START 1 treaty. A copy of the statement has been placed in the House of Commons library.

§ Mr. Gapes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to meet Ukrainian officials and politicians to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
We have already discussed this question with Ukrainian Government officials, and have made clear our concerns along the lines of the public statement we made on 30 November, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. We have also made our views clear to members of the Ukrainian Parliament.

§ Mr. Gapes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has received from Ukraine a draft treaty on security guarantees for Ukraine; and what plans his Department has to respond to such a draft treaty.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
We have received from the Ukrainian ambassador a copy of a draft security treaty for signature by the five nuclear weapon states. The draft treaty would come into force on entry into force of the START 1 treaty, and it does not commit Ukraine to accession to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty—NPT—as a non-nuclear weapon state. We have made clear to the Ukrainian Government that Ukraine will be covered by our national security assurances once she accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.

§ Mr. Gapes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November with his NATO counterparts(a) prior to and (b) at the NATO summit in January 1994; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
This question was discussed at the ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council on 2 457W December. Allies agreed that NATO should consider in the context of preparations for its January summit what steps the alliance might take to encourage the early entry into force and rapid implementation of all provisions of the START 1 treaty.