Allowing Ukraine, which gave up its nuclear arsenal only to be overwhelmed by its larger neighbor, will discourage other countries from nuclear disarmament, Ukraine's ambassador told CGTN.

Attempts to encourage Iran and the DPRK to give up their nuclear ambitions will be undermined, unless they believe the international community will offer protection from aggression, Vadym Prystaiko said in an interview.

He pointed out that as part of its Soviet legacy, Ukraine inherited an arsenal twice that of the UK, France and China put together.

"Now we exchange[d] it for the promise to come to help. And it is not just that this help is not coming, but one of those who signed this agreement, Russia, now threatens us," he told CGTN's Stephen Cole. 

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"This is a great lesson for us, but it's also a great lesson for nations who are threshold nations, like North Korea and Iran who are trying to defend themselves, building up their nuclear shield."

However, on Monday, Russia's Vladimir Putin indicated that Ukraine was trying to rebuild a nuclear weapons capability.

"As we know, it has already been stated that Ukraine intends to create its own nuclear weapons, and this is not just bragging," Putin said.

He went on to claim that Ukraine could acquire nuclear weapons and be ready to launch them quicker than some other nations because "Ukraine has the nuclear technologies created back in the Soviet times and delivery vehicles for such weapons."

'Chernobyl will look like a kid's toy'

Prystaiko claimed that the threats from Putin went to the heart of his country's existence. In recognizing the independent statehood of two regions, claimed by Ukraine, the Russian leader suggested modern Ukraine was a country created by previous regimes in Moscow. 

"He mentioned in his speech a couple of days ago a very important thing: that Ukraine is a historic mistake, which has to be fixed. And when you hear that from a nuclear state, you understand how dangerous the line we come to right now is," the ambassador said.

He also issued a warning that his nation's civil nuclear power program would be endangered should a wider conflict erupt.

"The critical infrastructure we're second in number of France, in Europe, in nuclear stations, in operation. We have to defend this because if anything happened to any of this, Chernobyl will look like a kid's toy."