NEWSWEEK | Published November 14, 2024
Ukraine has said it is not considering developing nuclear weapons as a security measure, following reports that suggested it could create a bomb quickly.
Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, responded to claims that Kyiv could develop a nuclear bomb within months if U.S. support for Ukraine dried up under the incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticized Washington aid for Kyiv.
Since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies have issued numerous nuclear threats, which are also amplified by Kremlin propagandists on state-run media.
British newspaper The Times said that a briefing paper prepared for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry outlined how, lacking time to construct and deploy huge uranium enrichment facilities, Kyiv could still construct a rudimentary weapon within months, using plutonium from spent nuclear fuel reactor rods.
Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment.
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SOURCE: www.newsweek.com
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Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi attends a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
THE KYIV INDEPENDENT | Published November 14, 2024
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Nov. 13 denied media reports suggesting that Kyiv was planning to develop weapons of mass destruction.
“Ukraine is committed to the NPT (the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons); we do not possess, develop, or intend to acquire nuclear weapons,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said via X.
“Ukraine works closely with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and is fully transparent to its monitoring, which rules out the use of nuclear materials for military purposes.”
The Times reported on Nov. 13 that Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb “within months” if U.S. military assistance under President-elect Donald Trump were to cease, according to a briefing paper prepared for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry seen by the outlet.
