Biden to provide nukes to Ukraine? Russia responds with a nuclear warning
Peskov said Tuesday it was “absolutely irresponsible arguments” of the Western officials Photograph:( Agencies )
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His statement came after Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev suggested that provision of nuclear arms to Ukraine may be considered a nuclear attack by Russia, warranting a nuclear response from the Russian forces.
His statement came after Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev suggested that provision of nuclear arms to Ukraine may be considered a nuclear attack by Russia, warranting a nuclear response from the Russian forces.
The Kremlin Tuesday (Nov. 26) condemned the West over the prospects of arming Ukraine with nuclear weapons. Dmitry Peskov, the official spokesperson for the Kremlin, was responding to a report by the New York Times which suggested that the Joe Biden administration of the US was contemplating providing nuclear weapons to Kyiv before the end of the term on January 20.
“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. That would be an instant and enormous deterrent. But such a step would be complicated and have serious implications," the Times wrote last week in a report.
While talking to reporters, Peskov said Tuesday it was an “absolutely irresponsible argument” of the Western officials to even think about such a possibility.
"These are absolutely irresponsible arguments of people who have a poor understanding of reality and who do not feel a shred of responsibility when making such statements. We also note that all of these statements are anonymous," Peskov said.
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His statement came after Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev suggested that the provision of nuclear arms to Ukraine may be considered a nuclear attack by Russia, warranting a nuclear response from the Russian forces.
Notably, Ukraine relinquished its nuclear stockpile in 1991 following the collapse of the USSR under a 1994 agreement called the Budapest Memorandum. This came after Russia, the US, and Britain gave it security assurances.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that joining NATO was the only option available to Kyiv to deter Russia.
Dmitry Peskov also warned Tuesday that the West must carefully listen to President Vladimir Putin and his newly-approved nuclear doctrine, which lowers the threshold for using nukes.
On the other hand, Ukrainian authorities have denied claims that Kyiv was seeking to build weapons of mass destruction, saying it has been and remains a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
(With inputs from agencies)
