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Ukraine: Ambassador threatens nuclear armament

2021-04-15T09:55:59.842Z


Concerned about military action by Russia, Ukraine is pushing for membership in NATO. Otherwise, according to a diplomat, the country would have to take care of its own security - if necessary with nuclear weapons.


Enlarge image

Ukrainian soldiers during an exercise (2020): "We need military support"

Photo: 

Evgen Kotenko / Ukrinform / imago images

Ukraine is considering building a nuclear arsenal if the country does not become a member of the NATO defense alliance.

"Either we are part of an alliance like NATO and also contribute to making this Europe stronger (...) or we have only one option, then to arm ourselves," the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, told im Deutschlandfunk.

Kiev will then “perhaps also consider a nuclear status”.

"How else can we guarantee our defense?" Said Melnyk.

In 1994, the country announced that it would renounce the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world from Soviet times, which is stored on Ukrainian territory.

In return, the US, UK and Russia pledged to respect Ukraine's borders.

In view of the new tensions in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine and troop marches on Russian and Ukrainian territory, international concerns about an escalation are growing.

Kiev is threatened by Russian troops along the Ukrainian border.

In addition, the country has been striving for membership in NATO for years, but this is considered unlikely in the next few years.

On Tuesday, Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) accused Russia of targeted provocations because of the tense situation in eastern Ukraine and the troop movements.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had already called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw the troops last week.

"This parade is much more than muscle play, saber rattles or war drums"

Andrij Melnyk, Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin

"This parade is much more than muscle play, saber rattling or war drums, as many believe here in Germany," said Melnyk.

“We need military support.

So we need the most modern weapon systems to strengthen our defense. «He spoke of» real war preparations for a new military attack on the Ukraine, which should also be taken seriously in Berlin «.

According to the Ukrainian media, the military intelligence service now assumes there are 102,000 Russian soldiers along the border.

This troop concentration should be increased to 110,000 by April 20, it said at a session in parliament in Kiev.

On April 21, Russian President Putin is planning to address the nation.

Moscow did not provide any figures, but spoke of maneuvers in the region.

Parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions along the Russian border have been under the control of fighters loyal to Moscow since 2014.

According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed since then.

Since the beginning of the year alone, there have been more than 55 deaths despite the current ceasefire.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), however, complained about more violations of the current ceasefire.

"The number of recorded violations in the past two weeks has reached the highest level this year," said Heidi Grau, OSCE mediator between Kiev and the separatist representatives.

The number is three times higher than in the two weeks before.

fek / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-04-15

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