Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky suggested in a speech in Brussels that Ukraine would have to have “nuclear weapons” if it could not be part of NATO.
“Either Ukraine has nuclear weapons, which will serve as protection, or it must be part of some kind of alliance,” he said on Thursday, adding that he did not know of any alliance “more effective” than the ‘NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who himself has repeatedly raised the nuclear threat since the start of his invasion of Ukraine in 2022, called these remarks a “dangerous provocation”.
Volodymyr Zelensky: “Either we arm ourselves with nuclear weapons or we enter NATO”
“I can say right away that Russia will not allow this to happen under any circumstances,” added the Russian head of state.
After the fall of the USSR, Ukraine agreed to hand over Soviet nuclear weapons stored on its territory to Russia, under an agreement concluded in 1994 and known as the Budapest Memorandum.
On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that his country had surrendered its nuclear weapons “without receiving anything in exchange”.
“We should have exchanged them for (membership in) NATO,” he said.
Ukraine aims to join the Alliance, which it sees as the only real protection against its Russian neighbor.
It is precisely because Ukraine does not have “weapons that can stop Putin” that it needs NATO, Volodymyr Zelensky insisted to the press on Monday.
He also recalled having proposed to the West, as part of his plan for victory, the deployment of non-nuclear deterrents on his territory.
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Peace negotiations with Russia ‘will depend’ on US presidential election, says Zelensky
The possibility of starting peace negotiations with Russia “will depend” on the result of the American presidential election, scheduled for November 5, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“In my opinion, it depends first and foremost on the elections in the United States,” he declared during a meeting on Monday with a group of journalists, including AFP, which was under embargo until Tuesday.
Ukraine in NATO: Berlin “is afraid” of the Russian reaction
Germany is “skeptical” about Ukraine’s invitation to NATO because it is “afraid” of the Russian reaction, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The German side is skeptical about our membership in NATO,” Mr. Zelensky said during a meeting on Monday with a group of journalists including AFP – the content of which was under embargo until Tuesday. “They are afraid” of the “Russian reaction,” he added.
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