Zelensky's threat: Ukrainian nuclear weapons if we are not allowed to join NATO
Published 19 October 2024 at 11:48
Foreign. Ukraine will develop its own nuclear weapons if the country is not admitted to the NATO military alliance. This is what the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says at a meeting with the European Council.

During the meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the country's survival can only be ensured through NATO membership or through its own nuclear weapons.

He said Ukraine gave up its Soviet nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and Britain, but that security had not been met.

- Which of these nuclear powers has gone bad? No. But Ukraine has, Zelenskyy said during the summit of the European Council.

- Who gave up their nuclear weapons? Ukraine. And who gets hurt today? Ukraine.

Zelenskyy emphasized that if Ukraine cannot have nuclear weapons as protection, the country must have access to strong military alliance cooperation, with NATO being the only practical option.

However, he claimed that Ukraine is not trying to build nuclear weapons and that NATO membership is the strongest security guarantee.

On Wednesday, Zelensky presented his "victory plan" in the Ukrainian parliament, which includes an invitation to NATO and continued arms deliveries.

Although NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has expressed support for Ukraine's membership, obstacles such as Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungary's Viktor Orbán have created uncertainty about whether a possible NATO entry for Ukraine will be possible.