Ukraine not developing nuclear weapons, Foreign Ministry says

Ukraine is not planning to develop weapons of mass destruction and remains committed to nuclear non-proliferation, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said in a statement issued Oct. 17.

The statement came after the German media outlet Bild reported that Kyiv is preparing to develop nuclear weapons. The story cited an unnamed Ukrainian source.

"We officially refute the insinuations of unnamed sources in the Bild publication regarding Ukraine's alleged plans to develop weapons of mass destruction," Tykhyi's statement read.

"Ukraine has been and remains a committed party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)... having renounced the world's third-most powerful military nuclear capability. Ukraine, which has made the greatest contribution to international peace, security and nuclear non-proliferation in history, is now facing nuclear blackmail from the terrorist state of Russia."

Earlier on Oct. 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky that he told Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in September that Ukraine must either join NATO or pursue nuclear capabilities for protection.

Zelensky then clarified the comments, saying that Ukraine is not pursuing nuclear weapons and the remarks were made to emphasize the failures of the Budapest Memorandum.

Under the 1994 agreement, referenced in the Foreign Ministry's statement, Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for receiving security guarantees from the U.S., the U.K., and Russia.

"Ukraine is convinced that the NPT remains the cornerstone of the global international security architecture," the ministry's statement said.

"Despite the ongoing Russian aggression, Ukraine continues to comply with the provisions of the NPT and remains a responsible participant in the international nuclear non-proliferation regime."

With Trump back in White House, can Ukraine opt for nuclear deterrence?

With the looming risk that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may pull the plug on Washington’s support for Ukraine, Kyiv has flirted 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 Trump du…

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov