US and European officials propose returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine – NYT – World

NEW YORK, November 22. /TASS/. Some U.S. and European officials are toying with the idea of ​​returning Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the collapse of the Soviet Union. New York Times reported on Friday.

According to the American daily, the US and its allies in Europe are discussing possible security guarantees that the West could provide to Kyiv.

American officials believe that increasing arms supplies to Ukraine is unlikely to change the situation in the war zone in the short term, but could help Kyiv strengthen its position if a truce is reached.

Given current events, Western allies are discussing “deterrence as a possible security guarantee,” including, for example, the deployment of an “arsenal of conventional weapons” on Ukrainian territory, the NYT reports.

Moreover, some officials put forward a proposal to “return to Ukraine the nuclear weapons abandoned in the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.” However, according to the American newspaper, such a step could entail “serious consequences.”

On November 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving the “Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence,” the country’s updated nuclear doctrine.

The fundamental principle of the doctrine is that the use of nuclear weapons is a last resort measure to protect the sovereignty of a country.

The emergence of new military threats and risks prompted Russia to clarify the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons. In particular, the amended doctrine expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter.

In addition, the document states that Russia will now consider any attack by a non-nuclear country backed by a nuclear power as a joint attack. Moscow also reserves the right to consider a nuclear response to a conventional attack that threatens its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles and drones into Russian territory, crossing the Russian border and attacking its ally Belarus. .