Nuclear weapons in Ukraine?

“Russia, as usual, when it fails to achieve success on the battlefield, begins searching for nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory. There are no nuclear weapons in Ukraine, unfortunately. You know the circumstances and you know how and thanks to whom this happened,” stated the President of Ukraine.

Such political pressure appears to be linked to a potentially upcoming new round of negotiations in the Ukraine–US–Russia format. Apparently, the Russian side believes that making such accusations against Ukraine will strengthen its negotiating position. Earlier, on February 24, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused the United Kingdom and France of secretly preparing to supply Ukraine with components of nuclear weapons production technology. Dmitry Peskov commented on these reports, calling them “potentially extremely dangerous information” and stating that it would be “taken into account during the negotiations.” It is worth noting that the Russian side has not presented any evidence to support this accusation.

It is true that Ukraine once possessed nuclear weapons. It relinquished them after receiving guarantees of respect for its borders and sovereignty from the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom. These commitments were formalized in the Budapest Memorandum signed on December 5, 1994.

Ukrainian representatives had previously announced another round of peace talks to take place around February 27. Today, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that they are more likely to occur in early March. The West must remain cautious of any pressure or manipulative tactics from the Russian side. Further false accusations or provocations from Russia should be expected.