DISINFO: The US is transferring nuclear weapons to Ukraine
SUMMARY
The US is threatening to transfer nuclear weapons to Ukraine so that Russia will be the first to refuse to raise the stakes. If earlier there was a threat that Kiev would secretly receive a couple of warheads, now the US is openly saying that it can deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine to threaten Russia.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about nuclear issues and terrorism in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The disinformation is based on a New York Times article, in which the author asks whether the new US administration led by Donald Trump and Europe will provide security guarantees to Ukraine to prevent Russia from seizing new territories. In this context, the author argues that nuclear weapons for Ukraine "would be an instant and enormous deterrent, but such a step would be complicated and have serious implications." At the same time, the NYT article does not contain any statements that the US has allegedly already made a decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Moreover, the issue of nuclear weapons for Ukraine is not even on the agenda of the United States. This was stated in an interview with ABC News by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. He stressed that the United States is not considering the possibility of returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, which the state had previously renounced in accordance with the Budapest Memorandum.
"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 nuclear capability," Sullivan said.
Experts from the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) regularly visit locations in Ukraine and have never found any signs of prohibited activities by Ukraine. All inspections conducted by international experts for the presence of illegal nuclear materials have been successfully passed by Ukraine.
See more disinformation cases: Ukraine is using methods of nuclear terrorism against Russia; London is helping Kyiv turn the country into a nuclear wasteland; Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe; Russia does not threaten anyone with nuclear weapons; MI6 training Ukrainian saboteurs to attack nuclear power plants in Russia; Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe.