Outgoing National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan denied reports that the Biden administration is considering returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, after the country relinquished its stockpile three decades ago after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Last month, the New York Times reported that several anonymous officials floated the idea of Ukraine becoming a nuclear power again as a deterrent against its Russian invaders.
“That is not under consideration. No,” Sullivan told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday when asked about the report.
“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 nuclear capability.”
In 1994, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum agreeing to cede its nuclear weapons — which were part of the Soviets’ broader arsenal — in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the US and the United Kingdom.
Notably, Ukraine was not believed to have had the codes needed to operate the nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has groused over how his country has fared since the Budapest Memorandum, now that the Kremlin has invaded.
“Which of these major nuclear powers suffered? All of them? No. Ukraine [did],” Zelensky bemoaned in October at a European Council summit.
“Who gave up nuclear weapons? All of them? No. Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Ukraine,” he went on. “Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons and that will be our protection or we should have some sort of alliance. Apart from NATO, today we do not know any effective alliances.”
Sullivan stressed that President Biden is racing to do what he can for Ukraine before departing the White House and President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Trump, 78, has made clear his intention of ending the bloody war unfolding in Ukraine, though he’s been short on specifics about how he plans to achieve that objective. Trump has named retired Army Gen. Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Kellogg has been supportive of Ukraine in the past and recently defended President Biden’s decision to authorize Kyiv to fire Army Tactical Missile System (ATCMS) deep into Russian territory, a move that rattled some of Trump’s allies.
When asked about speculation that a second Trump administration would broker a deal in which Ukraine cedes territory to Russia, Sullivan was coy.
“The key thing, from my perspective, is that Ukraine determine[s] its destiny, and its destiny not be imposed by outside powers, including the United States,” Sullivan said.
“The key thing for this year was to try to give Ukraine as many tools as possible so that they could go into that negotiation and feel they could achieve the outcome that they would like to see,” he added. “As far as territory or security or other elements, I’m not going to speak to that publicly.”
Zelensky had previously demanded a return to Ukraine’s 1991 borders, meaning that it would regain control of Crimea and the Donbas region. However, recently, he seemingly softened his tune.
“If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should take under [the] NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Zelensky told Sky News Friday, per a translation.
“That’s what we need to do fast, and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance previously dangled a peace plan involving a special demilitarized zone between the two warring nations and Ukraine committing that it won’t join NATO.
Sullivan, whose wife is Rep.-elect Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), also briefly touched on the Israel-Hamas war and surmised that if Israel reaches a ceasefire, they can push for a “broader diplomatic initiative in the region.”
“We are determined to try to move rapidly, to get those hostages home, get a ceasefire in place, and then move on to this larger deal that we would like to see consummated as soon as possible, including, if possible, while President Biden is still president,” he said.
