Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching its 11th year, with three years of full-scale war. In search of security guarantees like NATO membership, Ukraine has been left in limbo due to Russian-occupied territories and Western bureaucracy. In light of Russian advances and Western indecision, Kyiv has stated that NATO
Amid the looming risk that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may pull the plug on Washington's support for Ukraine, Kyiv has begun to flirt with the option of nuclear deterrence. The prospect of such a scenario was raised weeks earlier when President Volodymyr Zelensky in October said he had told
With Ukraine's future hanging in the balance ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, Ukraine’s president turned up the heat, invoking the specter of nuclear weapons to nudge whoever lands in the Oval Office toward offering more conventional weaponry and robust security guarantees to Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelensky
"We officially refute the insinuations of unnamed sources in the Bild publication regarding Ukraine's alleged plans to develop weapons of mass destruction."
Key developments on Oct. 17: * Zelensky says he told Trump that either Ukraine will join NATO or pursue nuclear weapons * Zelensky walks back earlier comments on Ukraine's possible plan to obtain nuclear weapons * 'First step to World War' — North Korea preparing 10,000 soldiers to join Russia's war, Zelensky confirms
"We never spoke about...that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which will serve as protection, or it must be part of some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not know of such an effective alliance," President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had told Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The two-week drills will involve over 2,000 military personnel and 60 aircraft from eight airbases. They will take place in Belgium, the Netherlands, and in the airspace over Denmark, the U.K., and the North Sea, with 13 NATO countries sending aircraft to participate.
Years back, Russia began the development of several new strategic weapons, as Russian President Vladimir Putin had called them, to modernize the country’s military and give it an edge against the so-called West, a conflict that was in full swing. Among them was the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, known as
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a seemingly significant modification of Russia’s military doctrine in a statement on Sept. 25. He revealed that the new doctrine would propose considering aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, “with the participation or support of a nuclear state,” as a “joint attack” on
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed skepticism in an interview with Fox News over Russian President Vladimir Putin's continued nuclear threats since the full-scale war, saying that Putin "loves his life" and is, therefore, likely afraid to use nuclear weapons. "Nobody knows what's in his head," Zelensky said in the interview, which
An attack on Belarus would lead to World War III, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed on Sept. 27, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to update Russia's nuclear doctrine, according to the Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta. Putin proposed a series of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine on Sept. 25
The Kremlin on Sept. 26 emphasized that President Vladimir Putin’s revisions to Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine should serve as a warning to Western nations, making clear that involvement in attacks on Russia would carry serious repercussions. A day earlier, Putin announced that Russia could respond to conventional missile
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a series of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine on Sept. 25 during a Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence, Russia's state-owned outlet Ria Novosti reported. Throughout the war, the Kremlin has repeatedly laid down red lines, which it has said could provoke a nuclear response
“Russian intelligence is everywhere. And its propaganda is everywhere, not only in Estonia but all over the world,” Estonian President Alar Karis told the Kyiv Independent during an interview on the sidelines of the 20th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference in Kyiv. Russia has been actively meddling in the
"There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of a potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," CIA head Bill Burns said, referring to the time around Ukrainian counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts.
Seven weeks into Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a thinly veiled threat toward Ukraine and its allies during a Russian Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence. "An aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state is proposed to be considered
Two U.S. researchers claim to have pinpointed the likely deployment site in Russia for the 9M730 Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile that President Vladimir Putin has hailed as "invincible."
The alleged plans, drawn up between 2008 and 2014, include lists of targets for missiles that can carry both conventional warheads and tactical nuclear weapons.
"As part of this phase of the drills, missile formations' personnel from the Southern and Central military districts will carry out combat training tasks, including acquiring special training ammunition for the Iskander-M tactical missile systems," Russia s Defense Ministry said.
Avril Haines, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, recently warned that “Russia’s need for support in the context of Ukraine has forced it to grant some long-sought concessions to China, North Korea, and Iran with the potential to undermine, among other things, long-held non-proliferation norms.” How much does
In polling released on July 4, 10% of respondents said they believed such an attack could "definitely" be justified, while 24% said "probably."
Belarus's Chief of the General Staff Pavlo Muraveiko said that the country would use tactical nuclear weapons in cases where its sovereignty or independence was threatened, Belarusian state-run news outlet Belta reported on June 30.
Informal discussions on nuclear weapons between the United States and China resumed in March for the first time in five years, Reuters first reported on June 21, with Beijing delegates assuring their American counterparts that they would not resort to using nuclear threats over Taiwan.
Russia is considering changes to its nuclear doctrine due to developments "related to lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons," Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed while speaking on June 20 in Vietnam, a day after his visit to North Korea.
Nothing can be ruled out if Russia finds itself on the verge "of a catastrophic defeat," including the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Moscow, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the National Security and Defense Council secretary, said in an interview with The Times published on June 16.
NATO countries are in discussions to deploy more nuclear weapons on standby, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Telegraph on June 16 as Russia continues to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
Russia deploying nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine would be "inadmissible," the Group of Seven (G7) warned in a joint statement on June 14 as the two-day G7 summit in Italy drew to a close.
Following the death of a Polish soldier stabbed at the Polish-Belarusian, Warsaw reintroduces its buffer zone and demands that Belarus extradite the suspected attacker. Belarus joins in the second stage of Russian nuclear drills, simulating the combat use of tactical nuclear warheads, with the aim of undermining Western support for
NATO officials rarely comment on the alliance's nuclear arsenal, but Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. was modernizing its nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.
Officials from both Cuba and the U.S. have said none of the vessels are carrying nuclear weapons, Reuters reports.
Russia might be storing up to 100 nuclear warheads in Kaliningrad Oblast, located approximately 260 km (160 miles) from Warsaw, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski claimed on June 11, during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.
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