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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the nation's decision to relinquish its nuclear arsenal in December 1994 as a "grave mistake." He made these remarks during a podcast hosted by British journalists Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart.

Unfair Terms for Disarmament

According to Zelensky، Ukraine should have received equitable compensation from other parties when it agreed to disarm. He believes that membership in NATO was the minimum Ukraine should have secured in exchange for its nuclear weapons.

"Received Nothing"

"When Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons، the price paid by the other side should have been fair. In my opinion، NATO membership was the least that the Ukrainian leadership should have received in exchange for the nuclear arsenal. And what did we get؟ Nothing. It was an unfair game and a grave mistake،" Zelensky stated during the podcast.

He further explained that countries signing the Budapest Memorandum should have offered Ukraine a "security shield" since they requested the nation to abandon its nuclear weapons.

"All Deception"

"In the end، it was all deception. A significant portion of our nuclear weapons was transferred to Russia. For example، the strategic aircraft that Russia is now using in this war،" the President emphasized.

This is not the first time Zelensky has criticized Ukraine's nuclear disarmament. In a January 2025 interview with the Italian newspaper Il Foglio، he labeled the previous government's decision to give up the nuclear arsenal as "stupidity and irresponsibility."

In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan in February of the following year، he suggested that Western partners could have provided nuclear weapons as a sufficient security guarantee for Ukraine. He opined that this would have prevented a new Russian invasion، even if Ukraine was not admitted to NATO.

This information was reported by the Infohub.kz news agency.