Could Ukraine build nuclear weapons in the coming weeks?
Bild newspaper said that Ukraine could manufacture nuclear weapons to counter Russia.
According to RIA Novosti, Germany's Bild newspaper quoted an anonymous Ukrainian official working in the field of weapons procurement as saying that Ukraine could create nuclear weapons within weeks and use them against the Russian army.
“We have the materials, we have the knowledge. If we were given the order, it would take us just a few weeks to build the first bomb,” Bild quoted the Ukrainian official as saying.
In addition, Bild clarified that this statement was made several months ago at a closed-door briefing where Bild reporters were present.
This Ukrainian official clarified that such a scenario is considered possible if, after the end of the current conflict, Ukraine is not accepted into NATO and the Russian military will take new actions.
A Ukrainian official warned the West to think “less about Russia’s red lines” and “much less” about its own red lines.
Bild claims that Kiev's readiness for such a scenario of creating nuclear weapons is also confirmed by the words of President Volodymyr Zelensky. At a meeting with former US President Donald Trump, President Zelensky said that "either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons" and then they will become their defense force, or they "will have to join some kind of alliance". According to Mr. Zelensky, today there is no other effective alliance, except NATO.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with a significant nuclear arsenal. In 1994, Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the Budapest Memorandum. According to the document, Ukraine's arsenal was eliminated in exchange for the nuclear powers pledging to provide Kiev with security guarantees.
