President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 17 that Ukraine was not pursuing nuclear weapons, clarifying comments he had made previously.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky said that he told Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in their meeting in September that Ukraine needs to be part of NATO, or it would pursue nuclear capabilities to protect itself.
In a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Zelensky walked back the comments and said explicitly that Ukraine was not seeking nuclear weapons.
"We never spoke about...that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this," he said.
Zelensky chided the reporter for asking about the earlier comments and said they were made to describe how the Budapest Memorandum had failed to provide Ukraine with an effective security umbrella.
Under the 1994 agreement, Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for receiving security guarantees from the U.S., the U.K., and Russia.
Zelensky emphasized that, given the failure of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine has no other option for effective security besides joining NATO.
"But we don't do...nuclear weapons," he emphasized, adding that he would ask for such a narrative not to be propagated.
Following Zelensky's comments, Rutte reiterated that Ukraine will become a NATO member but did not specify a timetable for when it would join.
Kateryna Denisova
