Silos give way to sunflowers

Ukraine celebrates non-nuclear status

June 4, 1996
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT)

PERVOMAYSK, Ukraine (CNN) -- In an emotional ceremony, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts planted sunflowers Tuesday on the site of a former Soviet missile silo, symbolically saluting Ukraine's new status as a nuclear weapons-free state. (1.5M QuickTime movie)

"By the actions we are taking we are ensuring that our children and our grandchildren will live in peace," Perry told counterparts Valery Shmarov of Ukraine and Pavel Grachev of Russia.

Only three years ago, Ukraine was the world's third-most powerful nuclear state, and Pervomaysk housed SS-19 and SS-24 missiles with more than 700 warheads aimed at the United States.

But Ukraine has gotten rid of all of its strategic and tactical nuclear missiles under a 1994 deal with Moscow and Washington.

"I would like to wish for the Ukrainian people that there should always be sunflowers and wheat in the ground here," a smiling Grachev said at the ceremony.

Once both the breadbasket and missile-maker to the former Soviet Union, Ukraine's decision to forsake nuclear weapons meant giving up its status as the third-most powerful nuclear nation behind the United States and Russia.

But in return, Ukraine has won warmer relations with the West and closer military ties to the U.S.

As the last nuclear weapon left Pervomaysk for Russia on Tuesday, some 1,200 troops from nine nations, including the U.S., poured into Ukraine for peacekeeping exercises -- the first time so many countries exercised together on the soil of the former Soviet Union.

Perry and Shmarov also signed an agreement under which the United States would provide Ukraine with a further $43.1 million to help clean up its two former missile bases and provide housing for retiring missile officers.

"This is a program that benefits both the United States and Ukraine. Indeed it benefits the entire world," Perry said.

CNN Correspondent Jamie McIntyre and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related story:

• Ukraine sends Russia the last of its nuclear weapons - June 2, 1996

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