A New Nuclear Arms Race Threatens Global Stability

Nukes have gone from threat to solution

At a pivotal moment in the Ukraine war, days before the US gave Ukraine permission for “deep strikes” in Russia, a report proposing that Ukraine develop nuclear weapons was published. Written by the Centre for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, a Ukrainian think tank for the country’s top defense leadership, the report lays out a series of steps for Kyiv to acquire nuclear bombs, including withdrawing from the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), part of the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994, which saw Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons—around 1,734 warheads at the time. In parallel to withdrawing from the NPT, the report proposes using plutonium found in fuel rods in Ukrainian nuclear reactors to develop a bomb 1/10th in power of what the US dropped in 1945 on Nagasaki, nicknamed “Fat Man.”

According to the report’s authors, Ukraine has enough plutonium to build “hundreds of warheads.” The catalyst for such a shocking move: President-elect Donald Trump ending military aid for Ukraine.