Ukraine weighs nuclear arsenal revival amid security concerns
In a development that could heighten global tensions, Ukrainian authorities are seriously considering the option of restoring the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, reports German publication Bild, citing a senior Ukrainian official involved in arms procurement.
During a meeting at the European Council in Brussels on October 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky reminded attendees of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The agreement, involving Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, promised Ukraine territorial integrity and sovereignty protection in exchange for its renunciation of nuclear arms. However, Zelensky pointed out that this document is no longer effective, leaving Ukraine's security dependent on either NATO membership or a nuclear arsenal.
Bild's expert in open data analysis, Julian Reichelt, remarked that Zelensky's statement was a "shock" and an "impact" on Western journalists. Reichelt noted that a few months ago, the senior Ukrainian official responsible for arms supplies informed Bild and a select circle of politicians and officials that Ukraine would not tolerate a second Russian military advance on Kyiv. In such a scenario, Ukraine would reestablish its nuclear arsenal, which it voluntarily dismantled in the 1990s.
"We possess the materials, we possess the knowledge. Should the order be given, it would take us only a few weeks to acquire our first bomb. The West should spend less time focusing on Russia's 'red lines' and much more on our 'red lines'," he stated.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement that his country's security could be secured either through NATO membership or nuclear weapons has "stunned" even the most seasoned journalists. One can only imagine the impact this had on politicians, indicated by their silence, writes the Black Sea Strategy Institute.
"If Zelensky's remarks about Ukrainian nuclear arms can shock journalists accustomed to anything, just think of the effect it must have had on politicians, judging by their lack of response. Is Ukraine learning from Russia on how to manipulate Western reflexes concerning nuclear weapons? Western politicians clearly weren't ready for this. They operate under the assumption that a civilized country must bind itself with its self-imposed rules, even to the point of self-sacrifice rather than endanger its potential killers and executioners. It's possible that panic over this in the West may elevate appeasers—moral descendants of those who betrayed pro-Western figures like Petliura and Skoropadskyi a century ago, handing Ukraine over to Lenin. Such factions might only be stopped by a greater fear: the prospect of Ukraine, with its potential and unmobilized resource of 18-25-year-olds, truly falling into Putin's hands, spelling a definite end for Europe at the very least," analysts argue.