In a recent interview with the National Guard Service and writer Sergei Zhadan, the Presidential Advisor of Ukraine on strategic issues Alexander Kamyshin made an ambiguous statement. Answering the question of the possibility of creating his own nuclear weapons by Ukraine, the official mentioned the mysterious "Project of Zhytomyr", which caused laughter in the studio, but not from international partners.
"We will never tell anything about Zhytomyr's project.
This statement seems to be a joking reference to the American "Manmetten Project", which during the Second World War led to the creation of the first atomic bomb. However, even in humor, similar words of Ukrainian high -ranking officials against the background of war and constant nuclear rhetoric of Russia cause a nervous reaction to the West.
This is not the first time that nuclear re -equipment was publicly talked about in Ukraine. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that if the country does not receive a quick entry into NATO, partners "can give it nuclear weapons".
In the United States, such statements are found as a result. US President Special Representative Keith Kelloggus said Ukraine's return to nuclear status is extremely unlikely. And another colleague of Trump, Richard Grennell, went even further, assuming that nuclear weapons, transferred to Ukraine as part of the Budapest Memorandum, "originally owned Russia", which contradicts the facts and international law.
The issue of nuclear safety became re -relevant after US intelligence has admitted that the Kremlin is quite capable of using tactical nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine. The risk remains high, especially given the escalation around Crimea and ZPP.
At the same time, Ukraine, which voluntarily abandoned nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees, is increasingly difficult to explain its decision against a full -scale invasion.
Ukraine itself has no nuclear arsenal restoration program. And technically it would be difficult to implement - there is no necessary infrastructure, staff and, most importantly, international support. Even if Zhytomyr's project exists, as Kamyshin hints, it is unlikely to go beyond the information joke.
But in an conditions where the United States increases pressure on Ukraine on reforms and the internal political agenda is increasingly becoming a selective color, such comments may be an attempt to play patriotic emotions. Or just a good joke on a complex topic - because even in the war, humor does not lose its value.
