The most absurd development of recent days in the war in Ukraine was the threat – against the western nations – by President Volodymyr Zelensky that ‘either Kiev is seated on NATO once and for all, or they’ll get nuclear weapons’.
This demented rambling has been walked back repeatedly, but there’s something about it that merits examining, because it may point to Ukraine having decided to use a ‘dirty bomb’, a crude artifact with nuclear waste that could cause radioactive contamination of large sections of territory, and be the catalyst of a worldwide nuclear exchange between the major powers.
The ‘bombshell’ statement (bad pun) from Zelensky came on the sidelines of the EU latest summit in Brussels.
He shockingly clarified: it’s either NATO quickly for Kiev, or Ukraine will once again ‘become a nuclear power’.
Julian Röpcke, on Bild, reported (translated from the German):
“In a conversation with the American presidential candidate Donald Trump a few weeks ago, the Ukrainian declared: “Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, and then they will be our defense. Or we will have to enter into some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not know of any effective alliances today.”
His argument: ‘Which of these major countries, among the nuclear powers, were affected [by war]? All of them? No, only one. Ukraine. Who has renounced nuclear weapons? All of them? Only one. Ukraine. Who is at war today? Ukraine’.”
Zelensky went as far as stating that Trump agreed with him, which is preposterous.
But is that so? Can Ukraine build a bomb in a few weeks?
Röpcke then recalled a report of what a high-ranking Ukrainian official hinted at to BILD and other politicians and officials months ago:
“The West should not believe that Ukraine will accept a second Russian attack on Kiev. Before that happens, it will rebuild its nuclear weapons arsenal, which it has voluntarily given up since the early 1990s. In 2001, Ukraine gave up its last nuclear weapon.”
These explosive details came from high-ranking military officials dealing about the possible Russian invasion of Central and Eastern Ukraine.
“The official specializing in weapons procurement said in a closed meeting: ‘We have the material; we have the knowledge. If the order is given, we will only need a few weeks to have the first bomb.
The West should ‘think less about Russia’s red lines and more about our red lines’, the official warned.”
The pro-Ukrainian internet turned viciously on the German journalist.
Sometimes, I am getting a little bit desperate about Ukrainian information warfare.
The president says that the country will either have nuclear weapons or NATO membership.
And if we then say, Ukrainian officials are also saying behind closed doors that this would be an…
— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) October 17, 2024
Röpcke already posted about this Ukrainian threat back in May, so the late reaction is strange.
Speaker recently, asked about Russia’s “red lines” and Moscow’s threat of using nuclear weapons (under Chatham House rules):
➡️“Why is everybody so concerned about Russia’s red lines? What about our red lines? How many weeks do you think we need to develop a nuclear device? We…
— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) May 28, 2024
So, some of the denials by Kiev came thrashing his reputation, accusing him of engaging on ‘Russian disinformation’.
Unian reported:
“The Office of the President of Ukraine denied reports of the tabloid Bild that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly seriously considering the possibility of restoring nuclear stockpiles.
According to Dmytro Lytvyn, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, it has long been possible to confuse where the words of military columnists Bild Julian Röpcke, and where are the statements of Russian propagandists, writes Channel 24.
‘Therefore, both Röpcke and Russian propaganda ‘throw the same nonsense into the information space’, he added.”
Whatever our opinion on Röpcke, he is a bona-fide pro Ukrainian writer, not a Russian plant.
The Russians have in unison denied that Ukraine has any capabilities to build nuclear bombs – to begin with, they never had nukes, the missiles stationed in their territory belonged to the Soviet Union and later to the ‘Commonwealth of Independent States’ i.e. Russia.
The Russian denial came from MPs, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and, in a strange fashion, from President Vladimir Putin himself.
May favorite Russian writer, analyst and news aggregator, Simplicius reported on Substack on Putin’s ambiguous reaction:
“He says it’s not that hard, but it’s not that easy to build nuclear weapons in today’s world. It may depend on what exactly we’re talking about. A ‘dirty bomb’ or very crudely ineffective weapon can likely be done fairly easily. But highly refined nuclear weapons are very difficult.
[…] You see, Russia isn’t worried about any low-grade, small yield dirty bomb. Why? Because if Ukraine dared use anything of the sort, Russia could nuke Ukraine to the stone age with impunity—meaning: no ally would come to Ukraine’s defense given the knowledge Ukraine used a nuke first. As such, this threat is meaningless toward Russia.
No, the threat is against Ukraine’s allies. It’s Zelensky’s long-awaited blackmail of his own ‘partners’ with the message effectively being: ‘If you don’t save us, we’ll use nukes to force a confrontation between you and Russia, and burn the whole world down with us’.”
As for Ukrainian Minister Umerov, he came to public stating that he’d do ‘a lot of bad things’ if NATO forced Kiev to exchange territories for a NATO membership.
“If Ukraine were offered NATO membership in exchange for occupied territories, I would definitely do very bad things,” says Ukrainian Defense Minister Umerov pic.twitter.com/U6bnTB21yz
— News Collection (@NewsArticleColl) October 18, 2024
This Ukrainian talk of nuclear provocations should worry the western powers, for Russia will not hesitate to use nukes and obliterate the Kiev regime in response.
Zelensky’s nuclear blackmail is really directed at his backers more than his enemy.
Zelensky needs NATO to save Ukraine at all costs, and he seems willing to escalate in the war a way that threatens to provoke a clash between NATO and Russia.
Read more:
Trump Criticizes Zelensky for Helping Start the War in Ukraine, as ‘The Greatest Salesman on Earth’ Now Demands ‘either NATO Membership or Nuclear Weapons’
