“It was stupid, illogical and very irresponsible.” Zelenskyy on Ukraine's abandonment of nuclear weapons
Kyiv • UNN
The President of Ukraine said that giving up nuclear weapons was an illogical step under pressure from the United States and Russia. According to him, Ukraine has actually exchanged nuclear weapons for war instead of real security guarantees.
The United States and Russia forced Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons, which was completely illogical and very irresponsible. Ukraine exchanged nuclear weapons for war. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sali for Il Foglio newspaper, UNN reports.
We talked about the Budapest Memorandum and he (Trump - ed.) heard my position. My position... probably, it differs from loyalty to some steps. I believe that this was not the way to deal with Ukraine or Europe, because Ukraine was giving up nuclear weapons. I am not claiming that it was necessary to give it away or not. In my opinion, we shouldn't have, judging by the fact that we were attacked, but even if you decided to, or the US and Russian policies were combined at that time and forced Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons. I think it was just dangerous, at least, to change it for nothing. We should have exchanged it for real security guarantees, and then it was NATO
He emphasized that NATO is still the only guarantee of security for Ukraine.
"In peacetime it is NATO, and in wartime it is a strong army. If I were to change nuclear weapons, I would change them for something very strong that can really stop any attacker, regardless of their greatness, their territory, their army. I think it was stupid, illogical, and very irresponsible to make such a change. The fact that Ukraine was then influenced by bigger countries, bigger economies, it was not easy to refuse, but you have to be able to refuse," Zelensky added.
The President noted that Ukraine had exchanged nuclear weapons for war.
Recall
Earlier, Zelenskyy emphasizedthat the Budapest Memorandum, which was signed on December 5, 1994, proved that it never worked, so everyone in the world will now know that just the signature of any state, any assurances or promises are not enough for security, but effective guarantees are needed.
