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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 8, 1993                   TAG: 9301080427
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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VITAL TASK

START II, which would reduce superpowers' nuclear strategic arsenals by two-thirds, is a great achievement - but it has to be implemented. And much hard work lies ahead if the threat of nuclear war is to be further reduced. Take just the case of the former Soviet Union.

In Russia itself, President Boris Yeltsin faces reactionary legislators who call START II a "sellout." A return to U.S. confrontation with an aggressive, imperialistic Russia remains a possibility.

If implementation of START I and II is to get under way, Americans must help pay the cost of destroying nuclear arsenals. The U.S. Congress has appropriated $800 million for this purpose - just a start.

There are, too, the spin-off republics. On becoming independent, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan kept the old Soviet nuclear weapons on their territory. In response to a U.S. offer of $175 million - as its share of funding for destroying nuclear weapons - Ukraine has demanded $1.5 billion.

Ukraine has political ambitions of its own, and has historical reasons to be suspicious of Moscow; some of its lawmakers are calling for Ukraine to join the club of nuclear nations.

It's a worthwhile investment to do what's needed to prevent that, whether by persuasion, aid, security assurances - or pressure. This vital task is another to fall on the Clinton administration.

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