The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhiy Tykhyi denied the mediaʼs information that Ukraine allegedly "can develop elementary nuclear weapons" in a few months.
"Ukraine adheres to the NPT we do not possess, develop, or intend to develop nuclear weapons. Ukraine closely cooperates with the IAEA and is completely transparent in its monitoring, which makes it impossible to use nuclear materials for military purposes," Tykhyi said.
Earlier, the British edition of The Times, referring to documents allegedly prepared for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, wrote that Ukraine could create "elementary nuclear weapons" in a few months, if the United States does not provide or reduces military aid to Kyiv. It was, in particular, about the creation of a plutonium bomb using a technology similar to that used for the Fat Man bomb, which the Americans dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 1945.
"Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did with the Manhattan Project, will not be a difficult task in 80 years," The Times wrote with reference to the alleged Ukrainian document.
At the same time, the publication noted that, most likely, in order not to waste time on the construction and operation of large uranium enrichment facilities, Ukraine would have to use plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods of nuclear reactors.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that Ukraine does not want to return nuclear weapons, but in exchange for this, it should receive a "security umbrella" — that is, membership in NATO. He also insisted on this during a conversation with the US President-elect Donald Trump.
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