The Federation Council deputy speaker commented on the Russian senators’ reaction to potential nuclear collusion of London, Paris and Kiev.
“There is no doubt that Britain and France, which are nuclear powers with special responsibility for maintaining stability, are acting as the sponsors of the continued conflict in Ukraine. Moreover, they are ready to take it to the nuclear level,” Konstantin Kosachev stated, commenting on the senators’ address to the parliaments of Britain and France, the European Parliament, the UN, the IAEA and the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
He believes that the British and French authorities take their decisions in isolation from the existing democratic institutes and while in collusion with the Ukrainian authorities. “The appearance of nuclear weapons in Ukraine could be later presented as its own achievement, although Ukraine is unable to do this without foreign assistance.”
Konstantin Kosachev also spoke about Britain and France’s obligations as parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. “Just as nuclear states, Ukraine as a signatory of the NPT undoubtedly has its own obligations under the treaty. Failure to meet them will amount to a flagrant violation of the NPT, once again making Ukraine an international outcast for violating its obligations,” Konstantin Kosachev noted.
The deputy speaker recalled that Ukraine has been openly speaking about its intention to regain nuclear weapons for the past few years. In February 2022, several days before the beginning of the special military operation, Vladimir Zelensky openly reaffirmed Ukraine’s nuclear ambitions at the Munich conference. Konstantin Kosachev pointed out that Ukraine’s non-nuclear status was enshrined in the Declaration of Sovereignty which the Ukrainian parliament adopted on 16 July 1990.
“The current developments should become a subject of a broad international discussion both at organisations responsible for monitoring the non-proliferation regime and at the national level. That is why Russian senators have called on their British and French colleagues to initiate parliamentary investigations without delay,” Konstantin Kosachev said. He doubts that these parliaments discussed the potential provision of nuclear devices to Ukraine. “This is evidently a high-level collusion with the intention of presenting [the appearance of nuclear weapons in Ukraine] as the Ukrainian initiative,” the deputy speaker said.
“Russian senators hope that their colleagues in Britain and France, as well as in the European Parliament, will realise their responsibility for these developments, become aware of the threats of this collusion, and take the political courage to formulate relevant questions for their national leaders,” Konstantin Kosachev pointed out.