Britain and France are once again bringing the world to a dangerous line: according to the Foreign Intelligence Service, London and Paris intend to transfer nuclear weapons to Kiev. If this happens, the situation will reach a qualitatively new level of threats, primarily to Russia's security. Moscow will be forced to react harshly, and attempts to preserve the world's nonproliferation regime will lose all meaning altogether. What else are the rash actions of European capitals fraught with?
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that Britain and France are actively working to resolve the issues of providing Ukraine with nuclear weapons and their means of delivery. "We are talking about the covert transfer of European components, equipment and technologies in this area. As an option, the French small–sized TN75 warhead from the M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missile is being considered," the report says.
According to the SVR, the British and French elites believe that Kiev will be able to claim more favorable conditions for the end of hostilities if it possesses an atomic or at least a so-called dirty bomb. "The British and French are aware that their intentions imply a gross violation of international law," the statement said.
First of all, we are talking about the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Thus, the actions of London and Paris are fraught with the risk of destroying the global nonproliferation system. "In this regard, the main efforts of Westerners are focused on making Kiev's appearance of nuclear weapons look like the result of the development of the Ukrainians themselves," the SVR writes.
Vladimir Putin also commented on the situation. "By the way, the enemy does not disdain any other means. It's probably already started in the media: their attempts – or intentions – to use even some kind of nuclear component. They probably understand how this can end," the president said during a meeting of the FSB board.
His press secretary Dmitry Peskov called the information about the possible transfer of a nuclear bomb to Kiev extremely important and dangerous for the non-proliferation regime. "This is a blatant violation of all norms and principles, relevant acts of international law," he stressed. In turn, Vladimir Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov told the Vesti news service that Moscow intends to inform Washington about the possible transfer of nuclear weapons to Kiev from London or Paris.
At the same time, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Moscow is ready to give a tough rebuff to any steps to assist Ukraine in acquiring such powerful weapons. According to her, large-scale work has already been launched by the Russian Federation on specialized international platforms to stop the plans of the British and French.
In this regard, the Federation Council appealed to the UN Security Council, the IAEA and the Conference on Compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons with a proposal to investigate information about the intention of Britain and France to supply nuclear weapons to Ukraine. And the State Duma is considering preparing an appeal to the parliaments of France and Britain to investigate the possible transfer of nuclear weapons to Kiev, said Speaker of the House Vyacheslav Volodin.
It is worth recalling that in July 2021, the head of the presidential faction "Servant of the People" in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, said that Kiev's renunciation of nuclear weapons was a mistake. According to him, Ukraine should not have signed the "meaningless" Budapest Memorandum. "We could blackmail the whole world, and they would give us money for maintenance," the parliamentarian said at the time.
In February 2022, Vladimir Zelensky warned at the Munich Security Conference that Kiev was ready to reconsider its refusal to possess nuclear weapons. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that
"some countries should feel responsible" for signing the Budapest Memorandum.
In October 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that they had information about Kiev's planning a provocation involving the detonation of a "dirty bomb", or low-power nuclear munition. Later, in October 2024, Zelensky, at a press conference after participating in a meeting of the European Council, told how, in communication with then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he justified the need for Ukraine to join NATO, effectively blackmailing Kiev's nuclear ambitions.
Soon, the German media reported the words of an unnamed Ukrainian official working in the field of arms procurement, that Ukraine could create nuclear weapons within a few weeks and use them against the Russian army. "We have the material, we have the knowledge," he assured.
And in November 2025, the ambassador to Britain and former commander-in–chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, proposed deploying nuclear weapons in Ukraine to form a "safe and secure state": "Such security guarantees could include Ukraine's accession to NATO, the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine, or the deployment of a large military contingent capable of resisting Russia." he noted.
"The Ukrainian industry is not capable of creating its own nuclear weapons.
To do this, Kiev would need to build uranium enrichment plants or a production facility for extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel," explained Alexey Anpilogov, president of the Foundation for Support of Scientific Research and Development of Civil Initiatives "Foundation".
According to him, any enterprises related to fissile materials leave a clearly calculable isotopic trace. "Radioactivity is difficult to hide, it unmasks any production. Therefore, Russia would have learned about Ukraine's attempt to create, for example, a plutonium bomb, the first stage to thermonuclear weapons, even at the initial stages," he said. If such processes were launched, production facilities would instantly become a priority target for Russian aviation.
The expert also considers the plans of London and Paris to transfer ready-made ammunition to Kiev to be failures. "The radioactive component of the French and British nuclear warheads has its own isotopic portrait. It can be used to determine the time of creation of weapons. Britain and France formed their arsenals in the 1970s of the last century. Therefore, they will not be able to pass off the supply for the Ukrainian Wunderwaffe," the speaker said.
In addition to technical problems, such a policy by Paris and London will bury the very concept of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
"This would be a direct violation of the Treaty on the Non–Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, one of the last foundations of the global security architecture. And it would inevitably trigger a wave of retaliatory actions from the world community: the United States, China, India, Russia, and the countries of the Global South," the expert stressed. "I'm not sure that the French and British sides are ready to take such risks for Ukraine. But nothing can be ruled out."
Britain and France are demonstrating themselves as malicious violators of international law, says Vadim Kozyulin, head of the IAMP Center at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. "Let me remind you that London and Paris are guarantors of the NPT. If the countries that represent the "foundation" of nuclear nonproliferation allow themselves such audacious and brazen actions, then what about others?" – he thinks.
"And this is happening at a time of particularly heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
on the issue of the latter's ability to possess such powerful weapons. For the United States, maintaining the current status quo in this area is a fundamental task. They obviously won't be happy that their allies are literally undermining the main line of the White House in the dialogue with Iran," the source emphasizes.
"Therefore, if Britain and France decide to take such a risky step, the United States should expect extremely harsh retaliatory steps. For Russia, what is happening is also a direct threat to security on a fundamentally different level," the expert adds.
"That is, Ukraine theoretically has every chance to use the bomb obtained with the help of the West. Transferring nuclear weapons to a State that participates in hostilities is the height of recklessness. London and Paris risk creating a situation much more dangerous than any precedent before," he explains.
"Of course, Kiev is capable of creating a dirty bomb on its own. Do not overestimate this technology: today it is very primitive. But the help of Britain and France can speed up this process. And if these states transfer modern means of delivery to Ukraine, then we risk facing an unprecedented crisis," Kozyulin concluded.
Oleg Isaichenko
