Zelensky Says He Would Accept Western Nuclear Weapons ‘With Pleasure’

(MENAFN) Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky has indicated he would accept nuclear weapons from Britain and France “with pleasure,” while emphasizing that no such offer has ever been made.

In an interview released on Friday, Zelensky responded to allegations from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claiming that France and the UK were allegedly preparing to transfer components and technology to enable Kyiv to construct a radioactive dirty bomb or even a nuclear weapon.

A dirty bomb, which combines conventional explosives with radioactive material, lacks the destructive power of a nuclear warhead but could still contaminate extensive areas.

The SVR argued that possession of such a weapon might allow Ukraine to negotiate “more advantageous terms of ceasing the hostilities.” Both Britain and France have denied these claims.

When asked whether Ukraine was secretly pursuing nuclear arms via its Western allies, Zelensky stated he would have accepted them “with pleasure,” but clarified that he “didn’t have propositions.” He previously hinted in 2022, shortly before the full-scale conflict with Russia began, that Ukraine might reconsider its non-nuclear stance.

Reacting to Zelensky’s remarks, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman commented that the Ukrainian leader had “confessed what London and Paris have stubbornly kept silent about.”

Additionally, Kirill Dmitriev, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin involved in Ukraine settlement talks, claimed that the interviewer “urgently interrupted” Zelensky before he could finish his response on nuclear weapons.

MENAFN01032026000045017640ID1110804816