“If we talk about some deadlines, it’s a very complicated thing and it’s counterproductive,” the Russian leader said, according to Kommersant, when asked when the “special military operation,” which is the term Russia uses for its war of aggression in Ukraine, will be completed. .
In addition to the possible date of the end of the war in Ukraine, Putin also touched upon the unconfirmed information of the German newspaper Bild that Ukraine is working on plans to produce a nuclear weapon.
“I can say straight away that Russia will not allow it (nuclear weapons in Ukraine) under any circumstances. Something like this cannot be hidden and we are able to monitor any movement in this direction. Any step in this direction will meet with a corresponding reaction,” said the head of the Kremlin.
Ukraine itself rejected the claims regarding nuclear weapons. “We don’t have such thoughts, we reject it,” said Andriy Jermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, according to Reuters.
Ukraine used to have nuclear weapons on its territory, but gave them up in 1994 by signing the Budapest Memorandum. This trio of international agreements was supposed to bring Ukraine a guarantee of security and territorial integrity in exchange for joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Russia repeatedly violated this agreement, both with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and then with an aggressive war in 2022.
