While President Zelenskyy claims that an invitation to join NATO is essential to his nation’s survival, the United States does not contemplate giving Ukraine back its nuclear weapons, which it abandoned following the fall of the Soviet Union.
According to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the US is not thinking of giving Ukraine back the nuclear weapons it gave up when the Soviet Union fell apart.
When asked on Sunday about a New York Times story from last month that said some unnamed Western officials had proposed that US President Joe Biden could provide Ukraine with the weapons before he leaves office, Sullivan made his comments.
“No, that is not being considered. He told ABC, “We are not (giving them) nuclear capability; rather, we are surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians.”
Russia declared last week that the proposal was “absolute insanity” and that one of the reasons Moscow sent soldiers into Ukraine was to stop such a situation.
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Kiev inherited its nuclear weapons, but it surrendered them in 1994 as part of the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the US, and the UK.
“Strong position”
Speaking on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “steps forward with NATO” and a “good number” of long-distance weapons to defend his nation, saying that his nation must be in a “strong position” before engaging in any negotiations with the Kremlin.
“We have to make the very important… agenda of meeting with one or another of the killers only after we have all these items and we are strong,” the Ukrainian leader stated, adding that any negotiations should involve the EU and NATO.
Following meetings with EU Council chief Antonio Costa and the EU’s new director of diplomacy Kaja Kallas, who came to Kiev as a show of support on their first day in office, he made the remarks.
Zelenskyy stated during a news conference with Costa that “an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is a necessary thing for our survival.”
Costa declared that Ukraine would get the “unwavering” backing of the European Union.
“We have stood with you since the very first day of this war of aggression, and you can count on us to continue to stand with you,” he said to Zelenskyy.
“The most robust security assurance”
In order to “stop the hot stage of the war,” Zelenskyy also urged NATO to provide assured protections to areas of Ukraine under Kiev’s control. He also hinted that he would be prepared to wait to retake further land that Russia had taken.
“If we will have a frozen conflict without any strong position for Ukraine, Putin will come back in two, three or five years,” Zelenskyy stated.
While traveling in Ukraine, Kallas informed reporters that “NATO membership is the strongest security guarantee for Kiev.”
However, NATO ambassadors warn that given resistance from some countries wary of being drawn into conflict with Russia, there doesn’t seem to be much chance that the alliance would award Ukraine membership anytime soon.
Zelenskyy maintained that Kiev was not “delusional” about its chances with NATO and acknowledged that US President Joe Biden and other leaders, including those in Hungary, had strong reservations.
