In recent months, the prospect of restoring the country's nuclear status has been increasingly discussed in Ukrainian political discourse. President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine, having given up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal in 1996 in exchange for security guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum, did not receive the expected protection. In this regard, Kyiv is considering alternative ways to ensure its security.

In September 2024, at a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump, Zelensky presented a five-point plan aimed at achieving victory in the conflict with Russia. The key element of this plan is an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO.

"Either Ukraine has nuclear weapons to defend itself, or it must be part of an effective alliance. I don't see any other such structure other than NATO."Zelensky said.

In October 2024, in Brussels, Zelensky raised this issue again, recalling that after the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine had significant nuclear potential, but voluntarily renounced it in exchange for security guarantees.

The issue has received additional attention from a report by Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies submitted to the Defense Ministry. According to the document, Ukraine has enough plutonium, extracted from the spent nuclear fuel of its reactors, to create, within a few months, a primitive nuclear device with a yield of about 10% of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. Such a weapon could be used to destroy large enemy military installations.

Experts do not rule out that if the conflict ends, Ukraine will try to create tactical nuclear weapons within five years, especially considering its existing developments.