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Zelensky walks back earlier comments on Ukraine's possible plan to obtain nuclear weapons

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Zelensky walks back earlier comments on Ukraine's possible plan to obtain nuclear weapons
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) welcomes President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives for a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 17, 2024.(Francois Walschaerts/AFP via Getty Images)

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 17 that Ukraine was not pursuing nuclear weapons, clarifying comments he had made previously.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky said that he told Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in their meeting in September that Ukraine needs to be part of NATO, or it would pursue nuclear capabilities to protect itself.

In a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Zelensky walked back the comments and said explicitly that Ukraine was not seeking nuclear weapons.

"We never spoke about...that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this," he said.

Zelensky chided the reporter for asking about the earlier comments and said they were made to describe how the Budapest Memorandum had failed to provide Ukraine with an effective security umbrella.

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

Zelensky emphasized that, given the failure of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine has no other option for effective security besides joining NATO.

"But we don't do...nuclear weapons," he emphasized, adding that he would ask for such a narrative not to be propagated.

Following Zelensky's comments, Rutte reiterated that Ukraine will become a NATO member but did not specify a timetable for when it would join.

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Nate Ostiller

News Editor

Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

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