Ukraine’sVolodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Russia would not have invaded if Kyiv still had access to its nuclear arsenal.

Ukraine was the third largest nuclear power in the world once the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, due to the number of weapons left on its soil by Moscow’s soldiers.

Ukraine gave the weapons back in 1994 in exchange for promises from Russia, the US and the UK that its independence – and borders – would be respected.

Within 20 years, Moscow had violated that vow and sent its troops across the border first to annex the peninsula of Crimea before trying to seize the whole country in February 2022.

Russian president Vladimir Putin now controls a fifth of Ukraine – and it’s unlikely Kyiv will get that land back any time soon.

During an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Zelenskyy was asked what he thinks may have happened if Ukraine had not surrendered its nuclear weapons.

The Ukrainian president said: “He [Putin] would not invade, never.

“He would not invade in 2022 because, I am sure, he would get signals and it is not right to step into a nuclear war, because that would destroy the whole world.

“He would be afraid of that. He would be afraid of his society. They would understand all the risks.”

He continued: “Our nuclear weapons were exchanged for nothing.

“That is the influence of Russia. That was the agreement between Russia and the US, that Ukraine gives up nuclear arms... we lost protection, we lost security guarantees.

“Those were our security guarantees. Definitely because of that, he invaded.”

He added: “We should have exchanged it for Nato, for Nato arms... we had no security guarantees except for the nuclear arms. No, none.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine would join Nato “some time in the future”, but asked how they would protect themselves in the meantime.

“Will we be given nuclear weapons? Then let them give us nuclear weapons,” he added.

“Will they give us the missiles in the quantities that we can stop Russia?

“And I’m not sure of that, but I think it would help. Otherwise, what missiles can stop Russia’s nuclear missiles? That is a rhetorical question.

“So let’s do it the following way. Give us back nuclear arms.

“Give us missile systems. Partners help us finance the one million [strong] army.

“Move your contingent onto the parts of our state, where we want the stability of the situation, so that the people have tranquility.”