The United States has unequivocally ruled out returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, according to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Speaking on 1 December 2024, Sullivan directly addressed speculation about potential nuclear arms transfer:
“That is not under consideration. No,” Sullivan told ABC News. “What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not nuclear capability.”
Liga notes that in October, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed claims by the German tabloid Bild, while in November, Ukrainian diplomats refuted a similar report by the British newspaper The Times. That same month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that NATO membership is a better option than pursuing nuclear weapons.
Sullivan’s comments highlight Ukraine’s historical nuclear situation. Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 but gave them up under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. This agreement provided security assurances from Russia, the United States, and Britain in exchange for Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament.
According to Reuters, Russia has previously termed the idea of returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine as “absolute insanity,” claiming it as one of the reasons for its full-scale-invasion of Ukraine.
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