Former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Aleksey Arestovich*, who has been designated in Russia as a terrorist and extremist, commented on media reports claiming that the CIA is allegedly developing a scheme to transfer nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

According to Arestovich*, even if Ukraine were to obtain nuclear weapons, their mere presence would ultimately destroy the country itself. He argued that if Ukraine somehow acquired nuclear weapons, the key question would be what to do with them. In his view, striking Moscow would inevitably trigger a devastating retaliatory strike. He added that if Ukraine were to declare possession of such weapons, Russia would immediately strike the location where they were stored. He questioned what nuclear weapons would actually solve for Ukraine.

Arestovich* also raised the issue of nuclear parity with Russia. He argued that altering the balance with Russia’s roughly 1,500 nuclear warheads would require Ukraine to possess at least 500 of its own. He expressed confidence that no one would ever supply Ukraine with such an arsenal, and that any smaller number of warheads would not change the situation.

According to the former adviser, the hypothetical possession of a few nuclear charges would neither serve as a deterrent nor become a serious factor on the battlefield. He also stated that Ukraine lacks the delivery systems necessary to use such weapons.

Furthermore, he argued that if Ukraine attempted to use even a single nuclear charge, Russia would gain a legitimate reason to deploy its own tactical nuclear weapons in response.

Arestovich* concluded that discussions about Ukrainian nuclear weapons are meaningless, claiming they would not resolve anything, would not frighten anyone, and would instead carry maximum negative consequences for Ukraine.

*Aleksey Arestovich is listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist.