DAILY MAIL
Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb within months if Donald Trump pulls US military aid, a briefing paper prepared for the country’s Ministry of Defence has revealed.
The weapon would be built from plutonium and use similar technology to the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, the report stated.
Despite giving up its nuclear arsenal in 1996, Kyiv is still in control of nine operational reactors and has significant expertise on how to build the weapons.
It comes after Trump reportedly backed the shock ultimatum President Volodymyr Zelensky gave NATO last month when he seemed to demand either Ukraine is granted membership of the bloc or they would become a nuclear power.
Zelensky later clarified he had meant there was no alternative security guarantee and Kyiv has since denied they are considering building a nuclear bomb.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Donald Trump in September in New York
There are fears US military aid for Ukraine will dwindle when Trump becomes president (US army file photo)
President Donald Trump meets with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg in July 2017
According to The Times, the briefing paper prepared for the Ministry of Defence reads: ‘Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later.’
‘The weight of reactor plutonium available to Ukraine can be estimated at seven tons … A significant nuclear weapons arsenal would require much less material,’ it continued.
The bomb would be big enough to destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military or industrial targets, the document’s authors concluded.
It comes as president-elect Trump has famously pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war within a day of becoming president and has boasted of his ‘very good relationship’ with President Putin.
He has also said the invasion would never have happened if he had been in the White House and has criticised Biden’s level of support for Ukraine, despite President Zelensky being adamantly against relinquishing territory to Russia.
It comes after Zelensky last month reportedly told NATO to let his country join the group or it will get nuclear weapons in a shock ultimatum that was allegedly backed by Trump.
The leader, 46, declared his bombshell proposal at the EU summit in Brussels – stating either NATO quickly accepts Ukraine into its alliance, or it will once again become a nuclear power, German newspaper Bild reported.
Zelensky made a bombshell announcement at an EU summit in Brussels, claiming he wanted NATO to let his country join the military alliance, or Ukraine would become a nuclear power
The bomb would be big enough to destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military or industrial targets, the document’s authors concluded (stock photo)
Zelensky had reportedly planned to present what is being dubbed his ‘victory plan’ to the heads of state and government of the European Union, but instead made the dramatic announcement to stunned reporters.
Speaking to the former American President Donald Trump, 78, some weeks ago, the Ukrainian leader declared: ‘Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, and then they will be our defence.
‘Or we will have to enter into some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not know of any effective alliances today.’
He said Trump had agreed with his proposal before he made the statement at the summit, insisting that a membership to NATO would provide his country with the ultimate security guarantee to protect it from Russia.
Last week it emerged that Trump could propose a 800-mile demilitarised zone between Russia and Ukraine as part of a plan to end the war early.
The plans, which were outlined by three Trump staffers, would involve the zone being policed by British and European troops.
It would mean that Russia would keep its territorial gains made in Ukraine with the current border frozen in place. Kyiv would also have to assure that it would not join NATO for 20 years.
