In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Kuchma said Ukraine was acting in the "interests of all mankind" in moving toward eliminating these weapons and recently deciding to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
"I regret that I have to say it from the UN rostrum: Such a policy meets no adequate response," he said.
"Until now Ukraine has not obtained the necessary compensation for tactical nuclear warheads already withdrawn," he added.
In a trilateral deal also involving Russia, the United States has pledged $350 million to help dismantle Ukraine's former Soviet nuclear arsenal -- which was the third largest in the world with more than 1,600 strategic warheads.
Also Monday, election officials said that Ukraine's weekend parliamentary by-elections had filled just nine of 56 vacant seats as voters stayed away in droves.
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