The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said that in order to guarantee its own security, Ukraine must either become a member of NATO or have nuclear weapons. He spoke about this during a meeting with US presidential candidate Donald Trump in September.
During a press conference in Brussels, Zelenskyi told how he discussed the NATO issue with Trump, citing the example of the Budapest Memorandum, according to which Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees.
“It seems to me that this is a clear example. Ukraine had the Budapest Memorandum. There were nuclear powers. The largest powers in the world that have influence have nuclear weapons. Among them, of course, were the United States of America, China, Russia, France. The absolute big players who have nuclear potential”, — noted Zelensky.
He recalled that Ukraine transferred a significant arsenal of nuclear weapons in exchange for these guarantees, but Russia’s violation of the terms of the memorandum raised the question of the reliability of international agreements.
“This is what was in the document. And if Russia violated this document, although it was the guarantor of this memorandum, then how can you trust this document and how can you trust all partners who guaranteed the preservation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty? And the answer is very simple: whether it works? No, this document doesn’t work! No, it’s not only Ukraine’s agreements with Russia. So, all these agreements don’t work worked”, — emphasized Zelensky.
The President added that Ukraine, having renounced nuclear weapons, remained the only affected party, while other nuclear states continue to ensure their security.
“And in a conversation with Donald Trump, I told him: this is how it works for us, what is the solution? Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, and then it is our protection. Or we should have some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, today we do not know of effective alliances NATO countries are not at war. In NATO countries, we are choosing NATO. And I think he heard me : you have valid arguments”, – emphasized Zelensky.
Zelensky also added that Trump recognized the validity of these arguments and agreed with Ukraine’s position.
