President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that Russia would utilize all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine should Kyiv acquire nuclear capabilities.
The New York Times reported last week that certain unidentified Western officials have suggested that U.S. President Joe Biden might consider providing nuclear weapons to Ukraine before the conclusion of his term in office.
“If the nation with which we are essentially at war were to become a nuclear power, what actions would we take? In this circumstance, we would employ all, I wish to underline, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not permit it. We will monitor their every action,” Putin stated during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“If, officially, someone were to transfer any such capability, it would signify a breach of all non-proliferation commitments previously made,” Putin remarked.
Additionally, Putin asserted that it is practically unfeasible for Ukraine to manufacture a nuclear weapon; however, he acknowledged the possibility of Ukraine creating a type of “dirty bomb,” which is a conventional explosive laced with radioactive materials designed to disseminate contamination. In such an event, Russia would respond accordingly, he indicated.
Russia has consistently maintained, albeit without substantiation, that Ukraine could potentially utilize such a device.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons but relinquished them under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the United States, and Britain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly expressed concerns that this decision has left his nation vulnerable, citing it as a justification for Ukraine’s admission into NATO—a move that is vehemently opposed by Moscow.