The rulers of the Ukraine are claiming that they need “nuclear rockets” to continue to take on Russia as the war keeps raging. The rulers are saying that unless Ukraine receives full NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) membership, the country will have no other choice but to develop or somehow obtain an arsenal of nuclear weapons, according to MP Aleksey Goncharenko.

At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Goncharenko confronted United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked for Ukraine to be able to obtain nuclear weapons somehow.

“Once again I will say directly and openly: I support the return of nuclear weapons to Ukraine. And I believe that this is our only option for survival,” Goncharenko wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday evening, noting that Blinken did not respond, according to a report by RT.

Goncharenko took to asking what other options Ukraine has against Russia besides becoming a member of NATO, allying with a nuclear power, or “restoring our nuclear potential.” Blinken, however, dodged the question, which was more of an ultimatum even though it was posed as a question.

He added that “if NATO does not want to accept us,” then “nuclear rockets must be made,” claiming that Kiev would gladly endure any potential sanctions for the breach of the non-proliferation treaty. “We don’t need a thousand. We need 20 [nuclear missiles],” he said, without elaborating on how he expects to obtain the nukes.

Ukraine has almost no chance of producing nuclear weapons on its own, the head of the country’s National Security and Defense Council, Aleksey Danilov, acknowledged last year – while hinting that Kiev may eventually host a Western-made arsenal.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited around one-third of the country’s nuclear warheads, along with the accompanying infrastructure. In 1994, it voluntarily gave up the weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S., Britain, and Russia under the Budapest Memorandum. However, Russian officials say that Western interference in Ukraine’s domestic affairs undermined the agreement. –RT

Former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev has said Kyiv’s threats to restart its nuclear program were among the main factors that prompted Russia to launch the military operation in the first place.