Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Kiev will need either atomic weapons or NATO membership to ensure its security. He rejected media reports that Kiev stood ready to produce an atomic bomb at short notice, saying that the nuclear discussions were only meant to imply there was no alternative to the US-led military bloc.
“This is another provocation,” Putin said on Friday at a press conference for media from BRICS countries in Moscow.
“This is a dangerous provocation because, obviously, any step in this direction will be met with an appropriate reaction.”
Ukraine’s political leadership repeatedly expressed a desire for nuclear weapons, “even before the crisis turned hot,” the Russian president noted.
“I can say this: Russia will not allow such a thing under any circumstances,” he added.
Making nuclear weapons in this day and age is “not that difficult”, Putin argued. He added, however, that he does not “know if Ukraine is capable of achieving this,” and that acquiring a nuclear arsenal “would not be that simple for Ukraine in its current state.”
Asked whether another country, such as the UK, could secretly provide Ukraine with atomic weapons, Putin stressed it would be “impossible to hide”, and that Moscow is “capable of tracking down any movement in this direction”.
Last month, Putin announced a series of changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, expanding the criteria for the use of the strategic deterrent. The move came as Kiev was requesting that NATO countries lift restrictions on the use of foreign-supplied longer-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia. The amended doctrine also extended Russia’s nuclear umbrella to Belarus.
