Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has called on Western backers to either admit Ukraine to NATO or provide it with nuclear weapons, arguing these are the only ways to counter nuclear-armed Russia.
In a Friday interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Zelensky criticized those who doubt Ukraine’s victory due to Moscow’s nuclear arsenal. “If everyone says Ukraine cannot win because Russia is a nuclear power, then what security guarantees should we have? NATO? Nuclear weapons? People should speak with us openly,” he said. He added that it was “astonishing” no one discusses Russia in similar terms.
The remarks follow Zelensky’s earlier claim this week that U.S. post-war security guarantees would require Ukraine to withdraw from parts of Donbass. Russia insists on full Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbass and other annexed regions—where referendums in 2022 favored joining Russia—as a condition for peace.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected Zelensky’s version, calling it a “lie” and clarifying that security guarantees cannot apply while the war is ongoing.
Zelensky has repeatedly denied Ukraine is seeking nuclear weapons, though he recently told Sky News he would accept them “with pleasure” from Britain or France if offered. Russia has warned it will never allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear arms and has cited Zelensky’s pre-2022 openness to the idea as a factor in the conflict’s outbreak.
