Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he issued an ultimatum to former president Donald Trump, saying that his country will pursue nuclear weapons to defend itself if it is not accepted into NATO.
Speaking before the European Council in Brussels, he stated: “In a conversation with Donald Trump, I told him it comes to this.
“The outcome is either Ukraine will be a nuclear power — and that will be our protection — or we should have some kind of alliance. Other than NATO, today we don’t know of any effective alliances.”
However, he insisted that their preference is to join NATO, which he believes would provide Ukraine with a security guarantee for protection from Russia.
He added: “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.”
This stance is part of a “victory plan” that also includes Ukraine obtaining permission to employ longer-range missiles supplied by Western countries to strike military targets situated within Russia, which is something that many of Ukraine’s allies have been hesitant to allow so far.
The meeting reportedly took place late last month at Trump Tower. Trump told the media he “learned a lot” from Zelensky during their meeting and reiterated his belief that the war between Russia and Ukraine should have never happened; he vowed that he would “get it solved.”
Zelensky claims that Trump told him during the meeting that his ultimatum was a “fair argument,” but much of the world is likely to take a different view. Most won’t take kindly to what amounts to a desperate attempt at blackmail.
Zelensky pointed out that his country willingly gave up its nuclear arsenal when it signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum in order to receive security guarantees from the U.S., the UK and Russia.
However, he said that the only country that ended up suffering and giving up its nuclear weapons as a result of the memorandum was Ukraine. Until that time, they had the third biggest nuclear stockpile in the world, which they inherited after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Ukraine stands as one of just four countries that has voluntarily initiated nuclear disarmament. He now views this as a mistake.
Zelensky confirms North Korea plans to provide Russia with thousands of soldiers
Zelensky also confirmed that North Korea is getting ready to send 10,000 soldiers to join the Russian side in the war. They are reportedly part of different branches and have different specializations. Zelensky is convinced that Moscow will “actually involve” North Korea in the war very soon. Some North Korean officers are believed to have already mobilized to occupied territories in Ukraine and joined Russia's army, although it is not known how many of them are already there.
Zelensky said that such a move “is the first step to a World War.”
North Korea has already been providing Russia with artillery shells and ballistic missiles, and their military cooperation is deepening as the war continues.
It’s clear that Zelensky is growing increasingly desperate, and comments like his nuclear ultimatum could well leave him with even less international support than he has right now.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Ankit Panda said that Zelensky’s nuclear weapon talk will not be a “winning strategy” for him when “bargaining with NATO going forward.”
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