Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenksy said that his Western backers must give Ukraine NATO membership or nuclear weapons. In December, European officials discussed the idea of sending nuclear weapons to Ukraine with the Joe Biden administration.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Zelensky said that Kiev must be given NATO membership or nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian leader said the process for Kiev to join NATO will take several years, if not decades, leaving Ukrainians asking how they are to deal with the Russian invasion.
As a solution, Zelesnsky offered a series of demands for his Western backers. “So let’s do it the following way. Give us back nuclear arms. Give us missile systems. Partners, help us finance the one million [man] Army. Move your contingent on the parts of our state where we want,” he told Piers.
Zelesnky asking for Ukraine’s nuclear weapons back is a reference to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine, along with former USSR members, agreed to remove all Soviet nuclear weapons from their territory in exchange for security guarantees from the US, the UK, and Russia. While the weapons were stationed within the borders of Ukraine, they remained under Moscow’s control following the USSR’s collapse.
The remarks on Morgan’s show are not the first time Zelesnsky floated the idea of obtaining a nuclear weapon. Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Zelensky discussed abandoning the Budapest Memorandum.
Zelensky again floated the idea in October. Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Moscow would respond to Kiev attempting to obtain a nuke. “This is a dangerous provocation,” Putin said. “Any step in this direction will be met with a corresponding reaction.”
Western officials have typically downplayed Zelesnky’s remarks on nuclear weapons. However, in December, the New York Times reported, “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.”
Biden administration officials later said they would not send nuclear weapons to Ukraine.
