Ukraine should have exchanged nuclear weapons for NATO, not Budapest Memorandum - Zelenskyy

This was stated by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview on the air of a telethon.

Zelenskyy said that some Westerners criticize the Victory Plan's clause on Ukraine's accession to NATO without offering any alternative.

‘They do not have an alternative that our side has proposed. They simply do not. Yes, they can say about the frozen conflict, ‘Let's stop now’. Okay! Question: ‘What will happen the day after tomorrow?’, the president said, arguing that in the future Putin could attempt to invade Ukraine again.

He stressed that before the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine had nuclear weapons and was a nuclear power, which was one of the security guarantees for our country. According to him, joining NATO, not the memorandum, could be a better compensation for giving up the nuclear arsenal.

‘My argument about Budapest is that when we gave away the weapons in question, we should have exchanged them for NATO membership. We should have exchanged them for that, not for the Budapest Memorandum. We should have given away nuclear weapons and received NATO and the EU. This is not enough. Security is different, as you can see: grain corridors and financial support. Security is not only armed. Security is also economic,’ he stressed.

Earlier, the German tabloid Bild wrote that Ukraine has the relevant materials and knowledge to restore its nuclear arsenal in a few weeks. Zelenskyy commented on the report, saying that it was just a ‘disinformation’.

‘Regarding nuclear weapons, first of all, we were not going to create any threat to the world and no nuclear weapons. I want you to understand that some media platforms have been throwing in such information. And so I want to be understood very correctly: I believe that Ukraine should be in NATO. And the argument is that during the Budapest Memorandum, we gave up nuclear weapons and were guaranteed the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We are saying that if Ukraine had not given up nuclear weapons, it would have been exactly the same umbrella that other nuclear powers have if you are not in NATO. NATO is better,’ he stressed, adding that Ukraine's membership in NATO is a higher priority for the security of our country than any type of weapon.

• On Friday, October 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared details of how the United States, France, and Germany view Ukraine's accession to NATO.