⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the reports of the UK and France’s intention to assist Ukraine in acquiring nuclear weapons (February 24, 2026)

🔉Audio statement by Maria Zakharova (in Russian)

💬 Maria Zakharova: On February 24, the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (aka the SVR) issued an urgent statement reporting that, having realized the absence of any chance of defeating Russia at the hands of the Kiev regime “on the battlefield,” the British and French authorities have deemed it possible to assist Ukraine in acquiring a “powerful argument” so that Kiev could claim more favourable terms for ending hostilities.

According to the SVR, this concerns at a minimum a so-called “dirty bomb”, while the option of providing a full-fledged nuclear weapon, including means of delivery, is also being seriously considered.

London and Paris are already actively working on resolving the relevant issues, including the covert transfer to Ukraine of European components, equipment and technologies. Efforts are also focused on ensuring that the emergence of such weapons in Kiev would appear to be the result of Ukraine’s own development.

❗️ For all those involved in such reckless actions – and for the international community as a whole – it should be obvious that even raising the issue in such terms constitutes a categorically unacceptable and acutely escalatory step, fraught with the risk of undermining the international legal regime of nuclear non-proliferation.

Ukraine, which acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear-weapon state, undertook an obligation not to acquire nuclear weapons. The UK and France, as nuclear-weapon states under the Treaty, undertook a commitment not to transfer nuclear weapons to anyone, and in no way to assist, encourage or induce any non-nuclear-weapon state to manufacture or acquire them.

Reports of these plans fall into an already “primed soil”. There is ample evidence of Kiev’s nuclear ambitions. One should recall Zelensky’s statement at the 2022 Munich Security Conference regarding the possibility of revising Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, as well as his subsequent equally provocative remarks on this issue.

There have also been numerous speculations by Ukrainian deputies and officials of various ranks about the “return” of nuclear weapons to Ukraine – allegedly imprudently relinquished upon joining the NPT – or about the deployment of US nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory.

👉 Russia’s position on this matter is unwavering and unequivocal: we have repeatedly stated that any attempts to revise Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, as well as any effort by the deeply hostile Kiev regime to acquire nuclear weapons, are unacceptable.

☝️ Any steps aimed at assisting Kiev in obtaining a military nuclear capability will be regarded by us as an attempt to create a direct and critical threat to the security of our country and will inevitably be met with a firm response.

In the context of anti-Russian statements and actions by the leadership of a number of European states, which continue to fuel the Western-provoked confrontation linked to the Ukrainian crisis, we once again warn of the risks of a direct military clash between nuclear powers – and of its potentially gravest consequences.

London and Paris are pursuing these dangerous plans virtually on the eve of the NPT Review Conference scheduled for April 2026. We are convinced that the States Parties must give their most serious attention to this egregious issue, as it directly concerns the functioning of the Treaty regime and the preservation of its integrity.

We have promptly initiated active engagement on this issue at relevant multilateral platforms to urge their participants and the leadership of the respective international organizations to restrain the British and French authorities, who have been carried away by anti-Russian zeal.

❗️ The consequences of this reckless course threaten not only Russia’s security.

🗓 On February 24, marking the fourth year since the launch of Russia’s special military operation, the 11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the Ukraine crisis (#ESS) was reconvened at the initiative of Kiev and its European backers.

During the session, this group of countries introduced yet another biased, anti-Russia resolution. This time it was deceptively titled “Support for a Lasting Peace in Ukraine” and, unlike previous resolutions adopted at the 11th ESS, was deliberately kept brief.

The authors of the resolution were compelled to adopt this tactical approach by the steadily declining support for their anti-Russia initiatives at the General Assembly, which have clearly grown tiresome for the overwhelming majority of the international community.

This one-sided, politicised text, in addition to the usual unfounded accusations against Russia, selectively cites the UN Charter while remaining silent on the root causes of the conflict around Ukraine. Without addressing these causes, a lasting and sustainable settlement is simply unattainable. The draft also contains an absurd tribute to the “efforts” of European countries that continue to funnel weapons to the Kiev regime, allegedly “aimed at ending the war”.

In an attempt to broaden its support among General Assembly members, the document is saturated with pseudo-peaceful language, including calls for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and the return of forcibly displaced persons, including children, framed as “confidence-building measures”. Such wording appears particularly cynical in light of the long record of duplicity demonstrated by the Kiev regime and its European sponsors, who have repeatedly shown their inability to negotiate in good faith by undermining every agreement reached, beginning with the Minsk accords.

👉 There is no doubt that this clumsy manoeuvring by Kiev and the Europeans in the General Assembly was intended to create a smokescreen around the trilateral negotiation process.

This was once again evident during the vote, when the Kiev regime, backed by the European “war party”, positioned itself against the broader international community, which supports genuine efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, as well as against the other two parties to the negotiations. The US delegation, explicitly stating that the Ukrainian-European initiative at the General Assembly was detrimental to the negotiation process, requested a separate vote on several destructive provisions of the draft.

Ultimately, the General Assembly voted on the original draft: 107 delegations voted in favour, 12 against, 51 states (including the US) abstained, and 23 did not participate.

Rather than a success, Kiev and its backers secured a distinctly unconvincing result and incurred significant political costs, having exposed themselves as opponents of peace. The widening transatlantic rift over the Ukrainian issue is also becoming increasingly apparent.

Overall, the discussions at the UN clearly reflect the international community’s fatigue with the Ukrainian issue – a situation our opponents are attempting to keep artificially alive. Against this backdrop, what is required are genuine efforts toward a peaceful settlement, efforts in which Russia is participating in good faith.

☝️ Moscow hopes that all reasonable members of the international community will likewise support the said efforts, without being distracted by minor obstructions.

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🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin's address at the Plenary Session of the Future Technologies Forum (February 25, 2026, Moscow)

💬 Vladimir Putin: The bioeconomy is far more than a field of scientific knowledge. With their bold ideas, scientists and engineers are already shaping a new reality and a new industrial paradigm – applying advances in biology and genetics to improve people’s lives and preserve our planet and its fragile ecosystem.

We in Russia take pride in the major scientific contribution made by the discoveries, philosophical and scientific teachings of Vladimir Vernadsky, Ilya Mechnikov, Kliment Timiryazev, Nikolai Koltsov, Nikolai Vavilov, Vladimir Engelhardt and other outstanding Russian scholars, including our contemporaries.

We will continue to expand our capabilities and move forward. Biotechnology – reinforced by the power of computing systems and artificial intelligence – is developing at an unprecedented pace. It helps address the key challenges of our time: climate change, food shortages and the depletion of renewable resources, and can serve projects both on Earth and in space.

❗️ I have repeatedly stressed: equal access to the technologies of the future – not privileges for the “chosen few” – is an indispensable condition for the fair development of our civilisation.

That is why, within #BRICS and other associations, as well as through bilateral cooperation, we are ready to implement joint scientific, educational and investment programmes in biotechnology for the benefit of all humanity.

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At the Forum, we traditionally discuss areas and developments that shape the future of humankind. Advances in biology, genetics and other life sciences are rightly called the technologies of the 21st century. Together with the IT industry and artificial intelligence, they are transforming the economy and society, creating new opportunities for millions of people.

Digital platforms already support scientists in implementing research projects, connect a craftsman or entrepreneur from a small town with a customer in a megacity, enable residents to participate in managing their building, settlement or entire region, and analyse medical studies in record time, helping doctors save lives. These are just some of the areas within the evolving platform economy.

🇷🇺 In this sphere, Russia is creating world-class solutions. We stand ready to share our experience and expertise in the interests of all humanity.

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