Zelensky: either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, or - joining NATO

The Ukrainian president said that with this choice he prefers to join the Alliance. We answer the main questions about nuclear weapons in Ukraine: what the country had an arsenal and whether it can restore it

Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine would prefer to join NATO, and not restore the status of a nuclear country. He also accused several states of non -compliance with the Budapest memorandum signed in 1994. Novye Europe, together with an expert in nuclear weapons, the head of the Nuclear Weapons of Russia organization, Pavel with a feat, sorted out how many nuclear weapons were in Ukraine and whether it could restore this arsenal.

Conditions

Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, or it should be in NATO, said President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in a conversation with US presidential candidate Donald Trump. He noted that in accordance with the Budapest memorandum, Ukraine was provided with guarantees of protection, but they were not observed.

“Which of these large countries was injured from these nuclear powers? All? No, one Ukraine. Who gave nuclear weapons? All? No, one Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Ukraine, ”Zelensky said.

He emphasized that of the two options, Ukraine chooses membership in NATO, not nuclear weapons:

- We never said that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons.

Budapest memorandum

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became the third country in the world in terms of nuclear weapons. There were about 1,700 nuclear warheads on its territory, as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“When the Soviet Union broke up, all nuclear weapons on its territory, including in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, belonged to the USSR. After the breakup, the question arose of what to do with this arsenal. As a result, the joint efforts of key nuclear powers: Russia, the USA, Great Britain - it was decided to take this weapon from the territory of these countries to Russia. Thus, Russia inherited the status of a nuclear power within the framework of an agreement on non -proliferation of nuclear weapons, ”explains Pavel a feat of nuclear weapons of Russia.

As a result, in 1994, Kyiv signed the Budapest Memorandum, which refused the nuclear arsenal. According to the expert, Ukraine had to do this because the international community was interested in reducing the number of nuclear states. Then Russia and the United States insisted that Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan should join the agreement on non -proliferation of nuclear weapons as non -nuclear countries.

“If Ukraine refused, it would be in a difficult situation: without economic assistance and support. Therefore, Ukraine agreed to this, and in return they promised that no one would encroach on its sovereignty and threaten nuclear weapons, ”the feat notes.

At the same time, Ukraine has repeatedly emphasized that the guarantees given to her according to the Budapest memorandum were not fulfilled. In particular, the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the invasion of Donbass 10 years ago showed the weakness of international guarantees. From that moment, Kyiv has repeatedly called for consultations as part of a memorandum. In 2016, Peter Poroshenko declared the need to return to him again, but this never happened. In 2019, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Alexander Turchinov, said that nuclear disarmament was a historical mistake ”of Ukraine.

“Safety guarantees given to us are not even worth the papers on which they were written,” he believes Turchinov.

The feat agrees that Russia really has not fulfilled its obligations on the memorandum. At the same time, the United States and Great Britain fulfilled its own, as they provided only guidance, and not a guarantee in the literal sense. In this, according to him, the key difference between countries.

Lost arsenal

At the time of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine had Ballistic missiles of the RS-18, known in the West as the SS-19, as well as the Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

“Together, Ukraine had about 1700-1900 nuclear warheads. Non -strategic weapons were exported in 1991, even under the USSR, and strategic remained in the country for some time, ”the expert explains.

Possible renewal of nuclear status

The Pravda.ru publication wrote that back in 2014, experts estimated the deadline for which Ukraine could restore its nuclear potential at 7-10 years. The main difficulties are the need to restore the infrastructure lost after the transfer of the nuclear weapons of Russia. In particular, this applies to production capacities and nuclear charge control systems.

“This is complete nonsense, they have nothing for this. There are no competencies, no materials, no equipment. Tales that you can create nuclear weapons from waste for nuclear fuel are fairy tales for poorly educated ... Real nuclear weapons are absolutely excluded, ” said Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma Committee on Defense.

The feat believes that theoretically, Ukraine could create nuclear weapons from scratch. At the same time, he agrees with the conclusions of his colleagues that the country has neither the production of nuclear materials, nor factories for the enrichment of uranium or plutonium.

“The creation of these capacities would take many years and require tremendous financial investments. Moreover, the international community, most likely, would have opposed it, and Russia could even take new military operations, ”the expert notes.

At the same time, Bild, citing a Ukrainian official, reported that Ukraine has enough resources and knowledge to develop nuclear weapons for several weeks. There were no official evidence of this information.