New Delhi: As the Russian offensive continues in Ukraine for almost two months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the world against the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with CNN on Friday, Zelenskyy said that “the world should be prepared for the possibility that Putin could either use nuclear weapons or chemical weapons against Ukraine as he does not value the lives of the people living in Ukraine.”
In the interview from his office in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, “Not only me — all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be the truth. Chemical weapons, they should do it, they could do it, for them the life of the people, nothing. That’s why.” Zelensky also said, “We should think not to be afraid, not be afraid but be ready. But that is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think.”
Meanwhile, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, William Burns, has also warned against the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
During a speech in Atlanta, he said, “Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership … none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.”
The war between Russia and Ukraine broke out on February 24, 2022. Russian forces have fully withdrawn from around the capital Kyiv and northern Ukraine to Belarus and Russia now. However, the UK Ministry of Defence has warned that the fighting in eastern Ukraine is expected to intensify in the coming weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there.