Ukraine denies planning to develop nuclear weapons

Ukraine has denied having any plans to develop a nuclear arsenal to deter Russia in the event that the flow of US military aid dries up.

On Wednesday, The Times reported that officials in Kiev believe they could quickly create a plutonium-based atomic bomb similar to the one the US dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, by raiding Ukraine’s nuclear energy facilities to obtain fissile material.

“Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later,” a document by Ukraine’s Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies stated, as quoted by the British newspaper.

According to the document, while the nuclear devices would not be particularly powerful, Ukraine has sufficient material “for hundreds of warheads with a tactical yield of several kilotons.” That would be enough to “destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military, industrial or logistics installations,” the document added, as cited by The Times.

The report comes amid widespread concern in the West and in Kiev that US President-elect Donald Trump may slash or completely halt military aid to Ukraine after taking office, as the embattled country is already struggling to contain Russian advances on the battlefield.

However, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhiy has dismissed claims that the country could seek nuclear weapons. In a statement on Wednesday, he stressed that “Ukraine is committed to the NPT,” referring to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

“We do not possess, develop, or intend to acquire nuclear weapons. Ukraine works closely with the IAEA and is fully transparent to its monitoring, which rules out the use of nuclear materials for military purposes,” he added.

His comments came after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said last month that Kiev could protect itself either by becoming a nuclear state or joining NATO, adding that he had conveyed this stance to Trump. However, he insisted at the time that Ukraine was not developing a nuclear weapon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that while “it is not difficult to create a nuclear weapon in the modern world,” Ukraine’s potential plans to do so would be “a dangerous provocation.” He warned that Russia would not allow this to happen under any circumstances.