Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., weighed in on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about nuclear weapons, saying “he is a threat” that should be taken at his word.
Markarova joined CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where host Margaret Brennan asked what she made of Putin’s recent comment about how he hopes nuclear weapons “will not be required” to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter how we interpret what he says. We just have to believe what he says and understand what he says,” Markarova said. “He is a threat, not only to Ukraine, but also to anyone who believes that nations should live peacefully.”
In a recent interview with Russian state media, shared with The Associated Press, Putin said a reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine was “inevitable.”
When asked about Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory, he said so far in the war, there has been no need for Russia to use nuclear weapons and he hopes “they will not be required” in the future.
Markarova said it is “very difficult to interpret” Putin, who has launched attacks on other nations and his own, but she highlighted the partnerships that Ukraine has sought with allied countries, including the U.S., with the hope that they can come together and “bring peace not only to our part of the world, but globally.”
“Putin is doing it together with Iran and North Korea. They are not hiding it. They are supporting other terroristic regimes, and we should also stay together in order to bring peace,” she said.
The comments come just days after the U.S. and Ukraine secured a long-awaited minerals deal, marking a step closer to ending the war, which has proved to be a more difficult task than the Trump administration anticipated.
While the deal is a step in the right direction, officials warn a ceasefire is still a ways off, particularly as fighting continues in the region.
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