Press review: Zelensky sees nukes as only alternative to NATO and Hamas loses its leader

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky says Ukraine has only two options to ensure its security: getting nukes or getting into NATO; Israel continues to systematically wipe out Hamas’ leadership; and US President Joe Biden visits Germany to pass the Ukraine baton. These stories topped Friday’s newspaper headlines in Russia.
 
Ukraine sees only two potential ways out of the military conflict with Russia – building its own nuclear arsenal or gaining entry to NATO, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told a news conference in Brussels where he arrived for talks with EU leaders. According to him, he conveyed this stark choice to former US President Donald Trump in a recent meeting while stressing that Kiev would prefer joining NATO.
Meanwhile, Bild reported on Thursday citing a high-profile Ukrainian official that Kiev may assemble its first nuclear bomb “within weeks.” Later on Thursday though, Zelensky’s office hurried to refute the German newspaper as Ukrainian presidential aide Dmitry Litvin dismissed allegations that Ukraine is considering building its own nukes as nonsense in an interview with Channel 24.
Zelensky himself walked back his earlier comments at a later joint news conference in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, saying: “I said I have no alternative except NATO. That was my signal. But we are not building nuclear weapons.”
Dmitry Trenin, lead researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Kommersant that while he cannot assess Ukraine’s nuclear capabilities, he did not rule out that Kiev may build and use a dirty bomb. “Statements like this (Zelensky’s ultimatum and the warning from a senior Ukrainian official to Bild – Kommersant) are clearly aimed at putting pressure on the West in a situation where the United States and Europe refuse to give Kiev everything that the Ukrainians need,” the expert said. However, he warned, such remarks should be taken seriously as he suggested destroying Ukraine’s nuclear potential as soon as possible.
Research fellow at the Center for Strategic Planning Studies at IMEMO RAS Ilya Kramnik says Ukraine has never had production sites for nukes. “Under normal conditions, it would take an industrially developed economy years, not weeks, to build these sites. And the current circumstances with the bulk of industrial regions being lost and the rest coming under attack are anything but normal,” he said. Therefore, he views Kiev’s latest statements as an attempt, firstly, to win direct security guarantees from NATO and, secondly, to boost the Ukrainians’ morale by discussing “superweapons.” However, Kramnik, too, admits that Ukraine may build a dirty bomb as there are nuclear power plants with spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and the Chernobyl confinement Shelter project on Ukrainian territory.
 
On October 16, Israeli troops killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar just 71 days into his tenure as the group’s head. The radical Palestinian movement has not yet confirmed the death of its leader.
“The reality on the ground is changing rapidly. Israel has killed all key Hamas members,” Iraqi military analyst Safaa al-Assam told Izvestia in an interview. Commenting on the attack on Sinwar, he said the head of the movement’s Politburo, on whom Hamas had largely relied, was the best man for the job but that he was under surveillance by Israeli special services.
Sinwar was a living symbol and played a large role in launching Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood which gave a start to the ongoing confrontation, Middle East expert Leonid Tsukanov told Izvestia. “It will be quite difficult to replace such an experienced commander,” he said, adding that it is too early to say who may be appointed the next Politburo chief. According to Tsukanov, while the loss of Sinwar cannot but affect Hamas, one should not expect a significant weakening of the movement.
While Hamas and the Al-Qassam Brigades have leaders who can step up and push the movement forward, the killing will prompt an angry response from Hamas, al-Assam added. “Military reports indicate that the number of strikes on Israel in retaliation for Sinwar’s death may increase, so things may escalate,” he warned.
 
On October 17, US President Joe Biden embarked on a farewell tour as he landed in Germany on the first US state visit since Germany’s reunification. Earlier, Biden shelved a meeting of the Ramstein group originally scheduled for October 12 amid Hurricane Milton. The group now plans to convene an online meeting next month.
In Berlin, Biden plans to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to further strengthen the close ties between the United States and Germany and discuss coordination on Ukraine and the Middle East. On October 15, CNN reported, citing Western officials, that the US leader also plans to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in Germany. No potential meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been announced though. On Wednesday, Biden announced another $425 mln in military aid to Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Zelensky.
The visit to Germany is driven by the US leader’s desire to entrust Germany with more responsibility to support Ukraine, Vladimir Vasilyev, senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, maintains. According to him, Biden seeks to turn Germany into a kind of “reserve platform” that would fuel humanitarian and military assistance to Kiev further down the road. In addition, Washington expects the well-industrialized Germany to commit its economy to helping Ukraine develop its own weapons production capabilities. And Biden canceled the initial Ramstein meeting because the United States is currently “a little busy” preparing for its presidential election and supporting Ukraine is getting in the way, Vasilyev argues.
Washington and Berlin need to synchronize their watches in a situation where Ukrainian troops have been retreating on the front line, research fellow at the Center for European Studies at MGIMO Artyom Sokolov told Vedomosti. US politicians are seeking to recalibrate support for Ukraine, he said. Biden may also talk Ukraine’s request to allow it to use longer-range weapons for strikes inside Russia, Sokolov added. As regards Zelensky’s claims to build nukes, this rhetoric is yet another attempt on the part of Kiev to exert pressure on its Western partners, a policy that has yet to hit its mark, as the West has so far not tweaked its position regarding the conflict, the expert concluded.
 
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Washington and its partners are “alarmed” by Pyongyang’s threats to use nuclear weapons and missiles, as well as its increasing support for Moscow in the Ukraine conflict. According to Campbell, amid deep divisions inside the UN Security Council, Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have decided to launch a new multinational team to monitor the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea that would limit its ability to test nuclear and missile weapons.
UPI reported that to monitor North Korean compliance, an international panel of experts, including ones from Russia and China, was originally formed in the first half of the 2010s. However, it has not been formally active since April after Russia vetoed a corresponding UN resolution, while China refrained from voting.
Collaborating on the new monitoring mission will be the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. The initiative was announced by Campbell jointly with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at a meeting in Seoul. The three senior diplomats issued a separate statement accusing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) of illegally shipping arms abroad, cyberattacks and sending staff to foreign countries, echoing past allegations. However, Campbell’s latest remark suggests that Washington is most concerned by North Korea’s assistance to Moscow, while Pyongyang has resolutely refuted allegations of sending ammunition and missiles to Russia.
The Western media, too, covered changes in Pyongyang’s foreign policy expansively. Thus, North Korea is preparing amendments to its Constitution that would define South Korea as a “hostile” state.
Alexander Vorontsov, head of the Department of Korean and Mongolian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “The United States and its partners aim to strangle the DPRK with sanctions.” Russia refused to extend the mandate of the legitimate team of experts approved by the UN Security Council, and it ceased to exist in May, but that did not satisfy the West which formed its own team of monitors based on the alliance between the US, Japan and South Korea, he recounted. Vorontsov said that private initiative launched by individual countries has nothing to do with either international organizations or international law.
As regards North Korea’s constitution change, its leader Kim Jong Un announced this move back in December after Pyongyang became fully aware that the government led by Yun Seok Yeol and his predecessors, too, have sought to absorb the DPRK, Vorontsov concluded.
 
The agreement to build a small nuclear power plant with a capacity of roughly 330 MW near New Karakorum may be signed as early as in the first half of 2025, Russian Ambassador to Mongolia Alexey Yevsikov told Izvestia. “We hope that the project [to build the NPP] will pave the way for active Russia-Mongolia interaction in the use of peaceful nuclear technology and lay the foundation for developing a new sophisticated technology-based industry in Mongolia,” the envoy added.
The two countries are also discussing projects to use peaceful nuclear energy in power generation, healthcare, agriculture and other fields, the embassy said.
Building an NPP has been a priority in cooperation between Russia and its allies in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Among other projects, Russia will build small NPPs in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Also, similar projects are being planned outside the post-Soviet space, namely, in Egypt, India, China and other countries.
Both Mongolia and Central Asian countries are currently interested in nuclear energy, Darya Saprynskaya, a research fellow at the Institute of Central Asia and the Caucasus at Moscow State University, told Izvestia. “Without a doubt, nuclear energy plays an important role in energy security. We can see that Central Asian nations are also interested in this. For example, Kazakhstan has held a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, Mongolia, for one, has certain natural resources, in particular uranium, but it lacks its own facilities to use these resources,” she explained. Russia has extensive experience in this area, so cooperation in this area will intensify, the expert added.
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