Responding to a report in the New York Times, a top White House official said President Joe Biden was not considering transferring nuclear weapons to Ukraine. The article that stated US and European officials had discussed giving a nuke to Kiev drew a stiff rebuke from Russia.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, “That is not under consideration, no. 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 (giving them) nuclear capability.”
The remark was in response to an NYT article that stated, “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.”
The discussions reported on by the Times were attempting to prepare Ukraine for Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Over the past two years, US and European officials have attempted to “Trump-proof” the war in Ukraine. Since Trump won last month’s election, the Biden administration has approved Ukraine using long-range weapons to attack deep into Russia and are attempting to rush billions in weapons to Kiev.
According to the NYT, the current administration believes it has significant freedom to act without Russian retaliation during the lame-duck session. “But the escalation risk of allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with US-supplied weaponry has diminished with the election of Mr. Trump,” the article adds,” Biden administration officials believe, calculating that Putin of Russia knows he has to wait only two months for the new administration.”
Still, the report was viewed as a major escalation by the Kremlin. A Russian spokesman explained that the talk was “absolutely irresponsible deliberations by people, who probably have a poor understanding… of reality, and who do not feel a shred of responsibility” for potential consequences.
