Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, having received a lackluster response when he pitched his 'victory plan' to US officials in Washington last month, now says that Ukraine must either join NATO or obtain nuclear weapons.
He made the ultra provocative comments while speaking before the EU’s European Council in Brussels, where he presented the victory plan before European lawmakers. That's when he referenced a recent private conversation with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying he told Trump that his country needs "some kind of alliance" or be "forced to pursue nuclear weapons."
"In a conversation with Donald Trump I said – this is our situation: What way out do we have? Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which for us will be a defense, or we’ll need to have some sort of alliance, besides NATO. But today we know of no other alliance," Zelensky said.
"NATO countries today are not at war. NATO countries are not fighting. In NATO countries people are still alive. Thank God. That is why we choose NATO, not nuclear weapons. And Donald Trump heard me. He said you have a just argument," he continued.
At one point in these comments he referenced this historic Budapest Memorandum, a 1994 agreement where Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal from Soviet times in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the US, and UK.
He also emphasized in a rhetorical question, "Which nuclear states suffered? None except Ukraine… Who gave up their nuclear weapons? All of them? No. Only Ukraine… Who is fighting today? Ukraine."
Following the address, Zelensky appeared alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and sought to downplay the nuclear remarks, saying, "We never spoke about … that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this."
Russian media also picked up on this moment:
Zelensky himself walked back his earlier comments at a later joint news conference in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, saying: "I said I have no alternative except NATO. That was my signal. But we are not building nuclear weapons."
Meanwhile former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has claimed that Ukraine is working on a dirty bomb. He said the Zelensky government "has everything necessary for that: resources, technology and specialists."
However, he dismissed the Ukrainian leader's nuke rhetoric as nonsense, and instead focused his criticisms on the likelier potential to develop a dirty bomb.
If Kiev pushes this nuclear development line further, it's likely to find that the US and West will distance themselves from more long-term support, amid accusations that arms and ammo supplies have been dwindling to just a trickle.
Among Zelensky's main messages to the EU on Thursday was that a "dangerous winter" lies ahead, and therefore more immediate financial and weapons aid is urgent. "We did our homework," Zelensky said of efforts to prepare for the winter months, at a moment Russia is gaining ground in the east.