Zelensky sends NATO nuclear ultimatum as Russia accuses Ukraine of lying | World | news

Ukraine’s president has hinted that Kiev will develop its own nuclear weapons if the country is denied NATO membership.

Volodymyr Zelensky has been visiting Brussels to drum up support for his “victory plan” as Ukraine comes under intense military pressure from Russia.

In a speech to European politicians, Zelensky presented an ultimatum to Western leaders and NATO.

“Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which will serve as protection, or it must be part of some kind of alliance,” he said.

“Other than NATO, we don’t know of such an effective alliance.”

Ukraine gave up its arsenal of several thousand Soviet nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees from the US, UK and Russia, as set out in an agreement called the Budapest Memorandum.

That fateful decision is now seen as a catastrophic mistake by Kiev, which is desperate to join the North Atlantic military alliance.

“Who gave up their nuclear weapons? All of them. Only Ukraine,” Zelensky reminded his audience. “Who is fighting today? Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian president said Donald Trump agreed it was a “fair argument” for Kiev to rejoin the nuclear club when the two met during Zelensky’s recent visit to the United States.

NATO membership for Ukraine is a key plank of Zelensky’s “victory plan,” which appeared to receive only lukewarm support from the Biden administration.

Ukraine has been promised NATO membership, but no firm date has been agreed. One of the main problems for Western leaders is defining the line that separates Ukraine and Russia.

Some have advocated the so-called West German model, whereby NATO provides security guarantees only for those parts of Ukraine over which Kiev exercises full control.

Russia has tried to up the nuclear stakes in Ukraine on several occasions since the full-scale invasion.

Moscow has not only threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons, but has also accused Kiev of plotting to use a “dirty bomb,” a device that uses explosives to disperse radioactive waste.

In a post on his Telegram channel, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Kiev of “trying to create a dirty bomb.”

He said: “It has all the possibilities for this: raw materials, technology, specialists.

“And any Soviet-era lab will do for the production of a low-power charge. The clock is ticking.”

However, as usual, he did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate his allegations.