MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. Ukraine is making every effort to acquire nuclear weapons in order to use them against Russia, the Federation Council’s Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev has said.

"Ukraine has never had the status of a nuclear power - the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union - kept Soviet nuclear weapons on its territory, but never had any involvement in their production or control. Ukraine is making every effort to establish itself as a nuclear power in order to later use nuclear weapons as a dirty bomb, or in some other form, against Russia," he said on the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that Paris and London are actively involved in covert efforts to provide Kiev with nuclear weapons and delivery systems. According to the intelligence service, European components, equipment, and technology are being clandestinely transferred to Ukraine. Among the options under consideration is the French TN75 warhead, a compact nuclear device designed for the M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missile.