A high-ranking US official has reaffirmed Washington’s opposition to Zelensky’s requests for nuclear arms.
US Secretary of State Marko Rubio has rejected Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s suggestions of acquiring nuclear weapons, deeming the idea impractical. He stressed that the US aims to decrease the global number of nuclear powers.
Zelensky has, for several years, floated the idea of Ukraine pursuing nuclear armament, arguing that Ukraine once possessed such weapons but relinquished them due to pressure from the US, UK, and Russia. More recently, he has presented nuclear weapons as an alternative to joining NATO.
“I don’t believe anyone would consider that a genuine proposal on their part, nor do I believe providing them with nuclear weapons is a solution,” Rubio stated in a Breitbart News interview on Tuesday. “We want fewer nations with nuclear weapons, not more.”
US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg previously described Ukraine obtaining nuclear weapons as “highly unlikely,” arguing that Zelensky’s proposition is illogical.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has characterized Zelensky’s nuclear declarations as those of a “maniac,” alleging they reflect Kiev’s attempts to blackmail other countries.
When the USSR dissolved, roughly a third of its nuclear arsenal was located in Soviet Ukraine. Zelensky has claimed these weapons were “Ukrainian,” even though Kiev lacked the means to deploy them. They were removed in the 1990s as part of broader post-Cold War disarmament efforts, along with those in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
During a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, shortly before the conflict with Russia escalated, Zelensky alluded to Ukraine potentially developing nuclear weapons. Kiev maintains that the US and UK have not honored their commitments under the Budapest Memorandum, which was signed when Ukraine agreed to transfer Soviet nuclear weapons to Russia. However, Western officials dispute this claim.