US denies plans to arm Ukraine with nuclear weapons
The US President's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, has strongly denied reports that the USA is considering reintroducing nuclear weapons to Ukraine. "This is not being considered, no," he stated in an interview with ABC.
"This is not being considered, no. We are sending Ukraine various types of conventional weapons so it can effectively defend itself and fight against Russia, but not nuclear capabilities," Sullivan asserted.
His comments were in response to a question about an article in the "New York Times" from November. The newspaper, citing anonymous Western sources, suggested that US President Joe Biden might want to provide nuclear weapons to Ukraine before the end of his term.
Russia on "total madness"
As reported by Reuters, Russia last week described this idea as "total madness," arguing that it sent troops to Ukraine to prevent such scenarios.
Kyiv was in possession of part of the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal, which it inherited following the collapse of the state in 1991. However, the Ukrainian authorities decided to relinquish the arsenal in exchange for security assurances and respect for the country's territorial integrity by Russia, the USA, and Great Britain. This agreement was formalised in the Budapest Memorandum, concluded in 1994.
