Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Tuesday that Ukraine should be given nuclear weapons once the hot phase of the war with Russia is over.
This could deter Russia from invading Ukraine again, if Ukraine’s aim of attaining NATO membership when the war ends isn’t achievable quickly.
Speaking in an interview via an interpreter, Zelenskyy said that if the process of joining NATO “is protracted for years or for decades, then we have an absolutely just question: What will be defending us against this evil, for this whole time on this whole path?”
“Which support package? Which missiles? Will we be given nuclear weapons? Then let them give us nuclear weapons.”
Ukraine inherited a stockpile of nuclear weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union, but gave them up in 1994 after receiving security assurances from Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Give us back nuclear arms. Give us missile systems,” Zelenskyy said. “Partners: Help us finance the 1 million army. Move your contingent on the parts of our state where we want the stability of the situation so that the people have tranquility.”
It’s not the first time Zelenskyy has made such a suggestion. In October 2024, he said Ukraine needed either NATO membership or nuclear weapons to ensure its survival, expressing a clear preference for NATO membership.
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