Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the White House, stated on Sunday, December 1, 2024, that the United States is not thinking about returning the nuclear weapons Ukraine gave up following the fall of the Soviet Union.
Sullivan spoke about the topic when answering a question about an article published in November by the New York Times, which stated that Western authorities suggested to the President of the United States, Joe Biden (Democratic Party), that he send this type of weaponry to Kiev before the end of his term.
“That’s not under consideration, no. What we’re doing is increasing a number of conventional capabilities for Ukraine so that they can defend themselves effectively,” Sullivan told ABC News.
Last week, Russia declared that sending such weapons to Ukraine was “absolute insanity” and that one of the reasons it dispatched troops there was to stop such a scenario. In November, Biden authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the United States to attack Russia.
In addition, Sullivan told ABC, “We are going to do everything in our power for these 50 days to get Ukraine all the tools we possibly can to strengthen their position on the battlefield so that they’ll be stronger at the negotiating table.”
Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after the state collapse in 1991 but handed them over in 1994 under a deal called the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Sullivan also spoke about the new team of Donald Trump’s (Republican Party) administration that is expected to take office on January 21. “I encouraged the Ukrainian team to engage with both the incoming team and all of our allies and partners, because, again, on January 21, the war in Ukraine does not simply go away,” Sullivan told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.
Also Read: Ukraine attacked Russia with ATACMS missiles provided by the US
