Ukraine's NSDC Chief Remarks on Nuclear-Free Status  
ITAR-TASS World Service  0108 GMT 29 Mar 99 
By Mikhail Melnik 

[FBIS Transcribed Text] KIEV, 29 Mar (ITAR-TASS) -- Vladimir Gorbulin, 
Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, in comment 
on the Ukrainian parliament proposal to study the possibility of 
eliminating the country's nuclear-free status, told the Ukrainian Seven 
Days television programme on Sunday in a live broadcast that "Ukraine 
cannot cancel its nuclear-free status or join the nuclear bloc of Russia 
and Belarus". 
"We have neither technical, technological nor financial resources for 
that," Gorbulin said, emphasising that "I am telling this as an expert, 
who worked in the space rocket sector for 30 years". Ukraine, he said, 
removed all nuclear weapons to Russia in keeping with bilateral accords 
and destroyed all missile silos. 
[Description of Source: ITAR-TASS World Service - Main government information 
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