Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov has said Russia may soon deploy nuclear weapons in the occupied Crimea.

"We have no final confirmation about nuclear weapons having been deployed there. But we are clearly aware this may happen shortly. This will depend on many factors, and if the Russians see they are losing, they will definitely revisit the issue," he told RFE/RL's Krym-Realii media project.

Crimean Platform to end Russian occupation of the peninsula

Видео дня

At the end of July, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the finalization of the concept of the international platform, "Crimea is Ukraine." At the beginning, it is expected to be a consultative and advisory format, which will grow into a negotiation format.

On August 24, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that Ukraine would propose that Germany could join the future international platform for the end of the occupation of Crimea.

Read alsoKyiv to host Crimean Platform Summit in May 2021On September 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who participated in the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, called on partners to join the international platform for the end of the Russian occupation of Crimea.

On October 6, the president announced that the European Union is ready to join the platform.

UNIAN memo

The Budapest Memorandum was signed on December 5, 1994. According to the document, Ukraine received guarantees of territorial integrity in exchange for renouncing its nuclear status. The memorandum was signed by the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Later, it was signed by China and France.