One way to guarantee Ukraine's security could be the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory, wrote former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ambassador to the UK Valeriy Zaluzhny in his column for The Telegraph, LETA reports, citing Meduza.
In his article, he examines the reasons for the war, analyzes the readiness of the Ukrainian army for the invasion in 2022, and the conditions for further establishing peace.
According to Zaluzhny, war "does not always end with one side's victory and the other side's defeat," and Ukraine cannot dismiss the possibility of a prolonged conflict coming to an end. However, even peace with the expectation of a new war offers a chance for political changes, deep reforms, the restoration of the national economy, economic growth, and the return of people to Ukraine.
He notes that with the help of innovations and technologies, it is possible to start building a safe and secure state, strengthen the rule of law, combat corruption, create a fair judicial system, and develop the economy, including with the support of international recovery programs. At the same time, Zaluzhny emphasizes that none of this is possible without effective security guarantees.
Such guarantees, in his opinion, could include Ukraine's accession to NATO, the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory, or the presence of a large military contingent of allies capable of deterring Russia.
Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons according to the Budapest Memorandum signed in December 1994 in exchange for guarantees of territorial integrity. This document was also signed by Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted that he "felt terrible" convincing the Ukrainian authorities to give up the nuclear arsenal inherited from the USSR.
The possibility of redeploying nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory was raised again after Russia's renewed invasion in 2022. In February of this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned this in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, stating that it is a "fair question" if Ukraine's accession to NATO takes years or decades.
It was previously reported that a meeting of U.S. and Ukrainian delegations took place on Sunday in Florida, and a meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy with Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected in Moscow on Tuesday.
The parties are discussing a possible peace plan.
The initial version of the proposed 28-point plan from the U.S. was very favorable to Russia. It required Ukraine to cede occupied territories to Russia, as well as those it had not even captured. Kyiv was also asked to commit to never joining NATO and to reduce its army.
At negotiations involving representatives from the U.S., Ukraine, and Europe that took place a week ago in Geneva, the plan was modified to take into account the Ukrainian position. However, as noted by Bloomberg, progress is still hindered by the same obstacles as before.
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