Astana: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Russia will use all weapons at its disposal if Ukraine obtains nuclear weapons.
the New York Times It reported last week that some unidentified Western officials suggested that US President Joe Biden might give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
“If the country with which we are now at war becomes a nuclear power, what will we do? In this case, we will use all means of destruction available to Russia, and I want to emphasize this. Everything: we will use it.” “We do not allow this, we will monitor their every move,” Putin said during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“If someone officially transfers something, it means a violation of all the non-proliferation obligations that he has undertaken,” Putin said.
Putin also said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb,” a conventional bomb filled with radioactive material in order to spread contamination. He added that in this case, Russia would respond appropriately.
Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that Ukraine might use such a device.
Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991, but gave them up under a 1994 agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and Britain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly complained that the move left his country without security, citing this as a reason for it joining NATO – something Moscow strongly opposes.