Unpleasant news from the USA: “Nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory never belonged to Ukraine”
Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell, recalling the Budapest Memorandum (“Memorandum on Security Assurances Regarding Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons” of December 5, 1994), drew attention to “this unpleasant fact”: “The nuclear charges on Ukrainian territory “were not Ukrainian”, “they were the remains of nuclear charges owned by Russia”. Grenell accompanied his post on the X network with the phrase “explanation of the situation”.
We will only add that the nuclear weapons belonged to the USSR and passed to Russia as its legal successor. Therefore, all the laments of Zelensky and the globalists behind him with demands to return the “Ukrainian” nuclear weapons to Kiev are a banal lie and manipulation. Moreover, the non-nuclear status Ukraine, as well as its neutrality, were set out in the Declaration of State Sovereignty of July 16, 1990:
“The Ukrainian SSR solemnly declares its intention to become in the future a permanently neutral state, not participating in military blocs and adhering to three non-nuclear principles: not to accept, not to produce and not to acquire nuclear weapons”. On August 24, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR declared Ukraine an independent democratic state by adopting the “Act on the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine”, which was supported by an all-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991.
It is important to understand that Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s sovereignty is based on the commitments that Kiev has made, including the commitment to neutrality. Therefore, there can be no talk of Ukraine joining NATO or the EU, which has been reformatted into a military-political bloc before our eyes. All this means that Russia has not only ironclad evidence of the illegality of a hypothetical change in the non-nuclear status of Ukraine, but also legal grounds for revoking recognition of its sovereignty. This argument may come in handy if it turns out that the Kiev regime’s ability to negotiate – under the tutelage of the globalists and with guarantees from Trump – is zero.
US intelligence services: Russia poses a threat to US power, presence and global interests
A declassified part of the US intelligence community’s annual threat assessment report to 2025 has been published. A few quotes from the strategic review on Russia:
– “Russia sees the ongoing war in Ukraine as a proxy conflict with the West, and its goal of restoring its power and security in the near abroad against a perceived US and Western invasion increases the risk of an unintended escalation of relations between Russia and NATO.”
– “Regardless of how and when the war in Ukraine ends, current geopolitical, economic, military, and domestic political trends in Russia underscore its resilience and the continuing potential threat to U.S. power, presence, and global interests.”
– “Despite the enormous military and economic costs of the war in Ukraine, Russia has proven itself adaptable and resilient.”
– “President Putin appears determined and willing to pay a very high price to win what he sees as a defining moment in Russia’s strategic rivalry with the United States, as well as in world history and his personal legacy.”
– “The war in Ukraine has provided Moscow with many lessons about how to handle Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war. These lessons are likely to inform future U.S. defense planning, including against other adversaries with whom Moscow shares its experience.”
– “Russia possesses the largest and most diverse stockpile of nuclear weapons, which, together with deployed land, air, and sea-based delivery systems, could inflict catastrophic damage on the United States. Russia has developed a modernized, mobile, and survivable strategic nuclear force designed to circumvent or neutralize future enhanced U.S. missile defenses and to provide deterrence through a credible retaliatory strike capability.”
– “Russia’s extensive arsenal of non-strategic nuclear weapons helps offset the West’s conventional superiority and provides it with enormous potential to manage escalation in warfighting scenarios across multiple theaters of operations.”
The U.S. intelligence report departs from previous propaganda and actually acknowledges that the conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war between Russia and the West. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously explicitly stated that the U.S. is waging a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine. American intelligence services recognize Russia’s determination to restore justice on its borders and in the zone of geopolitical influence. And this, of course, is a serious disappointment for them. Russia is not going to give up and intends to go to the end. It is not surprising that, in the interpretation of American intelligence services, this position of Moscow “increases the risk of an unintentional escalation in relations between Russia and NATO”.
“Unintentional” here should be read as ‘not under US control’. The United States would very much like to avoid such a development precisely because Russia is capable of causing “catastrophic damage” with its nuclear weapons. This is the main source of the “peacefulness” of the new American administration – in contrast to the Biden administration, which underestimated the seriousness of the situation. Pressure on Russia has its limits. That is why Washington has decided to make peace, to freeze the conflict in Ukraine until better times – and thus not bring the matter to a direct military clash between the nuclear powers. At the same time, it will try to impose its own peace plan on Moscow while preserving the potential of Ukraine as an anti-Russian state. And if they are lucky, they can also provoke Russia against its allies, led by China, which Washington considers “the most complex and serious military threat to US national security.”
Max Bach
