The non-nuclear deterrent strategic package that Ukraine would like to have on its territory may include missiles capable of firing beyond the Urals.
18.10.2024 06:40
Photo: SITA/AP, Geert Vanden Wijngaert
European Council President Charles Michel (second right), speaks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni (centre), next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (bottom left), as they arrive for a group photo during an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, October 17, 2024
Highlights
- The war in Ukraine lasts 968 days
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6:40 President Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently said that in an interview with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he spoke about the need for Ukraine to join NATO, while also mentioning that Kiev has given up nuclear weapons, the Ukrainska pravda server reported. The German newspaper Bild later wrote, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, that Ukraine has the material and knowledge to create nuclear weapons: “We have the material, we have the knowledge. We will only need a few weeks to create the first bomb,” said this official, according to Bild. Zelensky subsequently denied that Ukraine was preparing to create nuclear weapons, Ukrainska pravda further reported.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also rejected the attempt to create a nuclear weapon. “We officially refute the insinuations of unnamed sources in the Bild publication regarding Ukraine’s alleged plans to develop weapons of mass destruction. Ukraine has been and remains a loyal participant in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which it joined in 1994, giving up the third largest military nuclear potential in the world .
Ukraine, which has contributed the most in history to international peace, security and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, today faces nuclear blackmail by the terrorist state of Russia. Moscow not only conducts irresponsible and dangerous rhetoric on the topic of weapons of mass destruction, but also creates unacceptable threats to nuclear facilities on the territory of Ukraine, continues the illegal occupation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and considers the possibility of strikes on elements of the Ukrainian nuclear energy system. We call on the world community to increase pressure on Moscow to prevent the implementation of its aggressive plans”.
Ukrainian President Zelensky, however, has plans for a “non-nuclear” strategic deterrence package aimed at preventing and limiting Russian aggression. Although the details of the “comprehensive” plan are secret, they have been discussed with the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, the British newspaper The Times wrote.
Zelensky wants the package to be sufficient to protect his country from any military threat. “Ukraine proposes to deploy on its territory a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrent package that will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia,” The Times reported on the Ukrainian president’s proposal.
According to the Czech server idnes.cz, the package of non-nuclear strategic deterrence sounds tame, but it is not. “The exact contents of this package are unknown. However, based on a careful analysis of the current reality, it can be assumed that Ukraine wants cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. Both fall into the category of medium-range weapons with a range of about 1,500 kilometers, i.e. beyond the Urals. They are supposed to be a prevention against Russian aggression and to keep Russia in check,” the server saw. Ukraine could thus threaten even the Siberian cities of Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, which is an area where the Russians have moved the arms industry for strategic reasons.
“If this is to be the case, Ukraine is asking for weapons with a range of 1,500 kilometers, although it has not yet received missiles with a range of around six hundred kilometers. The United States did not even allow it to use the full range of ATACSM missiles, which is three hundred kilometers. And the Germans still refuse to send their Tauruses with a range of five hundred kilometers,” reports idnes.cz. Such a weapon is, for example, the Tomahawk cruise missile.
What Ukraine would need medium-range missiles for, Zelenskyi indicated in his plan by saying that “the aggressor must lose his war machine”. It would mean that Ukraine would be able to hit strategic targets deep behind Russia’s rear, which would reduce or disable its ability to continue an aggressive war.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
