The Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said on Sunday that his country will restart its own nuclear program if it does not receive satisfactory military support against Russia.
Speaking at a press conference he added ‘’If we fail to defend Ukraine today, if the world does not help us, we will have to get back to the creation of such weapons, which will defend us from Russia,’’ interfax reported.
The minister stressed his country seeks military support from NATO, the United States and the UK particular.
Heletey confirmed on Sunday his country was already receiving arms from NATO, as news came in of government troops resuming shelling in the rebel-held Donetsk region, in violation of the September 5 ceasefire.
Ukraine gave up its Soviet-inherited nuclear program in the 1990s.
In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the US, UK and the nascent Russian Federation at the time pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial borders in return for the country’s nuclear disarmament.
After the ousting of former elected president Viktor Yanukovych, in February, tensions erupted between the new government and its NATO allies on the one hand and the Russian Federation and separatist rebels on the other.
As the current dispute has dragged on, Ukraine’s response has been increasingly militaristic, seemingly encouraged by NATO support.
Armed clashes over the past five months resulted in the killing of 2,600 people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands in the southeastern region.
