Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has 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 Donald 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, reports Bild.
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 on Thursday afternoon.
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 defense.
‘Or we will have to enter into some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not know of any effective alliances today.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a bombshell announcement at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, claiming he wanted NATO to let his country join the military alliance, or Ukraine would become a nuclear power
According to Zelensky, the former US President Donald Trump supported his proposal
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.
Major points of the victory plan include the invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use western-supplied longer-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia, steps that have been met with reluctance by Kyiv’s allies so far.
‘If we get this sign that we will be in Nato, we will feel that we are not alone,’ Zelensky said.
The Institute for the Study of War in Washington said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to draw out the war and he believes ‘that Russian forces can outlast western support for Ukraine and collapse Ukrainian resistance by winning a war of attrition’.
Zelensky told EU leaders that his troops must keep battling Russian forces in Ukraine ‘while also bringing the war back into Russia so that Russians can feel what war is like and begin to hate Putin for it’.
The president said he needed to ‘move some partners forward’ on the issue.
‘And I think only with the unity in EU we can move and can move not only EU leaders, we can move other leaders,’ he said.
‘Which of these major countries, among the nuclear powers, were affected by war? All of them? No, only one. Ukraine,’ he continued.
‘Who has renounced nuclear weapons? All of them? Only one. Ukraine. Who is at war today? Ukraine’.
Pictured: Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Ternopil region, Ukraine October 16, 2024
A person walks with a bicycle past damaged residential buildings due to shelling in Pokrovsk, the eastern Donetsk region, on October 15, 2024
A view of damaged buildings as authorities in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region have announced the start of a mandatory evacuation for the key frontline town of Kupiansk, Ukraine on October 16, 2024
The shock declaration comes as the Ukrainian president confirmed that North Korea is preparing 10,000 soldiers of different branches and specialisations to join Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
His statement came just days after Pyongyang had sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia.
Zelensky revealed that Moscow plans to ‘actually involve’ North Korea in the war in the coming months.
Speaking at the same Brussels press conference, the president said that Russia is planning to train and engage not only infantry but also North Korean specialists in various branches of the military.
‘We know about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea they are preparing to send to fight against us,’ he said.
According to military intelligence, some North Korean officers are already in the occupied territories of Ukraine and have joined the Russian army, reports the Kyiv Independent. But Zelensky has claimed their numbers are unknown.
The desperate leader chillingly stated that the participation of the North Korean military in Russia’s bloody war ‘is the first step to World War’.
Russian Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile launch on April 20, 2022
North Korea has been supplying Russia with ballistic missiles and vast quantities of artillery shells. Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a state reception in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Reception House ‘Monnangwan’ in Pyongyang, North Korea,19 June 2024
Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened their military ties as Russia seeks arms and support in its full-scale war against Ukraine, with the country suffering its bloodiest month in September since the start of the war, as its front line casualties grew to 1,271 per day.
The two cities signed a mutual defence pact in June where they promised to protect one another if attacked, and North Korea has already been supplying Russia with ballistic missiles and vast quantities of artillery shells.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has previously suggested it was ‘likely’ North Koreans are dying in Ukraine, but the West has been hesitant to officially confirm there are North Korean troops on the frontline.
Intelligence sources told the Kyiv Post this month that six officers from North Korea had been hit by a Ukrainian missile strike.
During Thursday’s summit, Zelensky also discussed the possibility of Iran becoming more involved, having already sent Russia thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones throughout the war.
He said: ‘Iran gave (Russia) drones, license to produce these drones and missiles.
‘But not people, not officially. And here we see this first step in this war.’
