West has right to give Ukraine nukes – EU lawmaker

Radoslaw Sikorski urged countries to “dissuade” Russia from using nuclear weapons against Ukraine

The West could provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons to help defend itself against Russia, Radoslaw Sikorski, a member of the European Parliament and former Polish foreign minister, said.

“The West has the right to give Ukraine nuclear warheads so that it could protect its independence,” Sikorski told Ukraine’s Espreso TV on Saturday.

Sikorski, who served as Poland’s foreign minister between 2007 and 2014, argued that Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum.

Under the 1994 document signed by Ukraine, Russia, Britain, and the US, Kiev agreed to surrender its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. The signatories promised to “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.”

On Sunday, Sikorski reiterated his position, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of threatening Ukraine with nuclear weapons and arguing that the West must “dissuade” him.

Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexey Zaytsev denied that Moscow was planning to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. He said that claims to the contrary are “deliberate lies.”

“There will be no winners in a nuclear war, and it must not happen,” he said.