{"id":4307,"date":"2025-03-26T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/trumps-envoy-draws-criticism-after-saying-nuclear-arms-in-ukraine-were-russias\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:00:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:00:47","slug":"trumps-envoy-draws-criticism-after-saying-nuclear-arms-in-ukraine-were-russias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/trumps-envoy-draws-criticism-after-saying-nuclear-arms-in-ukraine-were-russias\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s envoy draws criticism after saying nuclear arms in Ukraine were ‘Russia’s’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trump's<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Richard Grenell said on March 25 that the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal stationed in Ukraine after the Soviet Union’s collapse belonged to Russia, calling it an “uncomfortable fact.”<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s be clear about the Budapest Memorandum<\/a>: the nukes were Russia\u2019s and were leftovers,” Grenell<\/a> said on X.<\/p>\n

Ukraine agreed to relinquish its nuclear arms after signing<\/a> the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which also saw the country join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.<\/p>\n

In exchange, Kyiv received security assurances from major powers, including the U.S., the U.K., and Russia. These guarantees failed to prevent Moscow’s aggression in 2014<\/a> in Crimea and Donbas and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n

“Ukraine gave the nukes back to Russia. They weren\u2019t Ukraine\u2019s. This is an uncomfortable fact,” Grenell said.<\/p>\n

Responding to Trump’s envoy, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer<\/a> said that “Grenell is flat wrong.”<\/p>\n

“I helped negotiate Budapest Memorandum… Nuclear warheads in Ukraine were ex-Soviet, not Russian.”<\/p>\n

Stored warheads were in sole Ukrainian custody, while intercontinental ballistic missiles and bomber planes were eliminated, except for those sent to Russia for “debt relief,” the former ambassador said.<\/p>\n

Pifer<\/a> reinforced his point by saying that conventional weapons capabilities left in Ukraine after the Soviet Union fell apart, including tanks, artillery, and warplanes, also belonged to Kyiv rather than Moscow.<\/p>\n

“They were Soviet, you ignorant a** helmet. So they were as equally Ukraine’s as Russia’s. This is day one knowledge,” said former Congressman Adam Kinziger<\/a>, who has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine during the full-scale war.<\/p>\n

Grenell’s comments also found support. Mike Lee<\/a>, a Republican senator who strongly opposed support for Kyiv and called for a U.S. exit from NATO, shared the envoy’s post while saying, “The nukes didn\u2019t belong to Ukraine. And there was never a treaty binding the U.S. to the Budapest Memorandum.”<\/p>\n

The Budapest Memorandum has been sharply criticized<\/a> by today’s Ukrainian leadership over its lack of strong security guarantees.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\u2018Not what Ukraine needs\u2019 \u2014 Black Sea ceasefire favors Russia more than Ukraine, say experts<\/div>\n
While the White House celebrates a ceasefire in the Black Sea after a 12-hour meeting in Riyadh, in Ukraine, the enthusiasm is muted. The agreement is missing crucial securities that Ukraine urgently needs, including protecting its ports from Russian attacks as well as opening up the blockaded Myko\u2026<\/div>\n
\"Trump'sThe Kyiv Independent<\/span>Dominic Culverwell<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Trump's<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

– https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/tag\/ukraine\/rss\/<\/p>\n

This article appeared on the websitekyivindependent.com
\nThis article is taken based on Law no. 8\/1996 of Romania. News does not enjoy copyright, so they can be taken, this is our right to take news and information in its entirety and distribute them further. The content was made available to us through the rss mechanism
\nOriginal Content<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Richard Grenell said on March 25 that the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal stationed in Ukraine after the Soviet Union’s collapse belonged to Russia, calling it an “uncomfortable fact.” “Let\u2019s be clear about the Budapest Memorandum: the nukes were Russia\u2019s and were leftovers,” Grenell said on X. Ukraine agreed to relinquish […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152,1],"tags":[579,1707,2758,3124,1433,35,193,1206,3954,1238,66,1213],"class_list":["post-4307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kyivindependent","category-news","tag-after","tag-arms","tag-criticism","tag-draws","tag-envoy","tag-in","tag-nuclear","tag-russias","tag-saying","tag-trumps","tag-ukraine","tag-were"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump's envoy draws criticism after saying nuclear arms in Ukraine were 'Russia's' - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/trumps-envoy-draws-criticism-after-saying-nuclear-arms-in-ukraine-were-russias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump's envoy draws criticism after saying nuclear arms in Ukraine were 'Russia's' - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Richard Grenell said on March 25 that the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal stationed in Ukraine after the Soviet Union’s collapse belonged to Russia, calling it an “uncomfortable fact.” “Let\u2019s be clear about the Budapest Memorandum: the nukes were Russia\u2019s and were leftovers,” Grenell said on X. 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