MOSCOW: Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (Foreign Intelligence Service, SVR) on Tuesday alleged that the United Kingdom and France are secretly planning to supply nuclear weapons to Ukraine, even as Moscow’s military campaign in the country enters its fifth year.
In a report released by the agency, the SVR claimed — without presenting evidence — that London and Paris were considering steps that would violate international law, particularly the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and risk undermining the global non-proliferation framework.
“The British and French understand that such plans would constitute a gross breach of international law, above all the NPT, and could destabilise the global non-proliferation system,” the statement said. It further alleged that Western countries were attempting to portray any potential Ukrainian nuclear capability as domestically developed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the report as significant, reiterating that Ukraine’s non-nuclear status remains one of Moscow’s key conditions for resolving the conflict through negotiations. “This information regarding Paris and London’s alleged intentions to arm Kyiv with nuclear weapons is extremely important. We will certainly take it into account in the ongoing talks,” he said.
Another round of peace negotiations, reportedly mediated by the United States, is expected to take place in Geneva on February 27.
The SVR did not provide documentary proof to substantiate its claims. The French embassy in Moscow dismissed the allegations as “an outright lie,” according to local media reports, while there was no immediate response from Britain.
Ukraine also rejected the accusations. Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, called the claims “absurd” and accused Russian officials of reviving unfounded “dirty bomb” narratives.
“For the record: Ukraine has denied such baseless Russian allegations many times before, and we categorically deny them again,” Tykhyi said, urging the international community to reject what he described as misinformation.
