Zakharova says Ukraine has no capability to build nuclear weapons

Ukraine cannot create nuclear weapons on its own. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said this on December 25.

"On its own, the Kiev regime cannot create nuclear weapons in a few weeks. This is a fact, period," Zakharova said.

She added that Ukraine will be able to create nuclear weapons only if it receives components important for this work from outside. Such actions by Kiev show its nature.

On December 5, Zakharova said that transferring nuclear weapons to Kiev would violate the relevant non-proliferation treaty. She emphasized that Moscow cannot but be concerned about the statements by representatives of the Kiev regime, which call into question the viability of the Budapest Memorandum and can be interpreted as a direct bid to revise Ukraine's nuclear-free status.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term expired on May 20, said during his visit to the United States in October when speaking with President-elect Donald Trump that Kiev must either possess nuclear weapons or become a NATO member to win the current conflict.

The Budapest Memorandum was signed by the UK, Russia, the US and Ukraine on December 5, 1994. The document envisioned guarantees of Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons.