The US will not return nuclear weapons to Ukraine

The United States is not considering returning Ukraine's nuclear weapons, which Kiev gave up after the breakup of the Soviet Union, says Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Adviser.

Mr. Sullivan made the comments after being asked about a New York Times article published last month that said unnamed Western officials had suggested that President Joe Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine. before leaving office.

"This is not being considered. What we're doing is augmenting Ukraine's various conventional capabilities so that they can effectively defend themselves and push the war on the Russian front without having nuclear capabilities," Mr. Sullivan said during an interview Sunday with ABC News. .

Russia said last week that the idea was "absolute madness" and that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.

As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons after its dissolution in 1991 but gave them up under a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the U.S. United States and Britain.

On August 24, 1991, the parliament of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted the Declaration of Independence Act of Ukraine. The United States recognized the independence of this country on December 25 of the same year and opened its embassy in the capital, Kiev. President Bill Clinton visited Kiev three times – in 1994, 1995 and 2000. /VOA/