It is possible that Ukraine could acquire nuclear weapons. Ultimately, however, this decision rests entirely with the President of the United States Donald Trump. This was stated on Thursday, February 13, by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in an interview with Breitbart News.
On February 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed that his country should be offered either NATO membership or nuclear weapons as a guarantee of security against further Russian aggression. He specifically mentioned that if joining NATO takes "years or decades, then let them give us nuclear weapons."
Hegseth responded to this:
"I'm not here to announce anything open or unconsidered. That's not my job. That's the president's job. He is the leader, he is the master of negotiation and agreement-making," he said.
He added: "Some of us are there to help establish certain conditions that could make a deal more likely, and that is what I was trying to do here in the context of NATO."
Peace Negotiations
According to American President Donald Trump, next week in Saudi Arabia, there will be a meeting of representatives from the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine. Neither he nor Putin will attend, but top officials will be present.
Trump also mentioned a meeting of representatives from the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia in Munich on February 14. However, Zelensky's advisor, Dmitry Litvin, denied this information.
Previously, the American leader supported Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's statement that Ukraine's NATO membership is not a realistic scenario. According to Trump, it is "impractical."