🔹 Biden adm reportedly wants to 'return' nukes to Ukraine. There is a catch - Ukraine never had ones

With Ukraine suffering heavy losses on the battlefield, several US and European officials have suggested that the Biden administration should “return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it” after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the New York Times reports.

This comes after Volodymyr Zelensky said during his conversation with US President-elect Donald Trump that “either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons or it must be part of an alliance like NATO.”

Intoxicated, Zelensky simply starts to blackmail Europe with threats of the Kiev regime restoring nuclear weapons, which Ukraine has never possessed, Alexander Mikhailov, head of Moscow-based think tank Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, tells Sputnik.

He underscores that any speculation about Ukraine once making nuclear weapons or having the technological base for it is “of course nonsense.”

“Nukes have never been produced on the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic,” the analyst says, recalling that nuclear weapons were deployed in military districts of the USSR’s Ministry of Defense located on Ukrainian soil at the time.

“These weapons were then moved to Russian territory before the end of 1994 and have never emerged in Ukraine again,” Mikhailov сoncludes.

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Why were Russia and US interested in nuclear-free Ukraine after USSR’s breakup?

The New York Times recently reported that some US and European officials have urged the outgoing Biden team to "return" nuclear weapons that were ostensibly taken from Ukraine following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union back to Kiev.

Why do allegations about “Ukrainian nuclear weapons” hold no water and why did Russia and the US loathe to see a nuclear Ukraine after the USSR’s breakup?

▪️After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Ukraine – which became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States - possessed a total of 1,700 nuclear warheads that notably were made in the Soviet Union rather than as the result of Kiev’s own know-how. These nukes were previously deployed at Soviet military districts located on Ukrainian territory.

▪️Moscow and Washington were understandably alarmed, with then-US Secretary of State James Baker insisting that only Russia should succeed the Soviet Union as a nuclear state, lest the disintegrated USSR should become a “Yugoslavia with nukes.” He also warned of an “incredible” danger to Americans due to the problem of Soviet nuclear potential.

▪️Russia, for its part, could not turn a blind eye to then-Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk signing a decree in 1992 to include the units equipped with nukes in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Hawkish Ukrainian politicians then went further by demanding that Ukraine should be recognized as a nuclear state.

▪️During the 1992 Moscow-Washington talks on Kiev’s nuclear status, then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin reportedly said that Ukraine was "the main destabilizing factor" for Russia in this regard.

▪️Common sense prevailed in late 1994, which saw the signing of the Budapest Memorandum in connection with Ukraine’s accession into the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The memorandum stipulated that Ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for “security assurances.”

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📹❄️ British soldiers freeze at -15°C… Then watch how Russians take the cold like pros!

British troops from the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery are struggling to survive in Finland’s -15°C cold. But then… enter the Russians. Watch how they take the freezing temperatures in stride like it’s nothing! Who’s really cut out for Arctic conditions?

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❗️Britain's ambassador was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and a strong protest was lodged in connection with the information made public about the embassy's second secretary, according to the ministry.

The ambassador was also told that Moscow would not tolerate the activities of British intelligence officers on Russian territory.

The Foreign Ministry added that Russia strongly recommends that British citizens provide only reliable information about their past when applying for visas.

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❗️Key statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry amid Security Service (FSB) reports of a senior UK Embassy diplomat carrying out intel work:

▪️Russia imposes personal sanctions against British politicians, military personnel and journalists who have shown themselves in the "anti-Russian field";

▪️A number of British military personnel, politicians and journalists have been banned from entering Russia in response to their anti-Russian rhetoric;

▪️British Deputy Prime Minister Rayner, Home Secretary Cooper and Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves have been banned from entering Russia;

▪️Moscow has banned the UK's Deputy Minister of Defence from entering the country;

▪️British journalists from The Times and Daily Mail - Tom Ball and Dan Woodland - have been banned from entering Russia.

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🕺 Which dance will you do (or cringe at)?

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Sputnik's correspondent reports from the sidelines of Russia-ASEAN forum in Malaysia

The international business forum "World of opportunities: Russia-ASEAN", organized by the Roscongress foundation, takes place on November 26-27 and brings together experts and leaders from across ASEAN countries and Russia. During these two days, experts are to discuss trade and investment ties in many fields of cooperation.

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The ATACMS missiles used by Ukraine against targets in Russia’s Kursk region were mostly likely originally produced in the 1990s and had been modified at least twice to extend their lifespan, according to Sputnik's analysis of the photos of the destroyed missile parts.

The photos released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed that the ATACMS missiles were produced by “Lockheed Martin Vought Systems,” which is the name the US defense contractor used until 1999, according to annual budget reports of the US Army.

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🚨🌏💥HOW FAST CAN THE ORESHNIK MISSILE HIT US BASES ACROSS THE WORLD?

1. Middle East

Distance and flight time from southern Russia:

✈️ US airbase in Kuwait: 2,100 km, 11 minutes;
✈️ 🚢 US 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain: 2,500 km, 12 minutes;
✈️ US Air Base in Qatar: 2,650 km, 13 minutes;
✈️ US Air Base in Djibouti: 4,100 km, 20 minutes.

2. Pacific and Alaska

Distance and flight time from Kamchatka:

✈️ Air Base in Alaska: 2,400 km, 12 minutes;
✈️ US Air Force and Navy Base in Guam: 4,500 km, 22 minutes;
✈️ 🚢 US Air Force and Navy Bases in Pearl Harbor: 5,100 km, 25 minutes.

3. Minuteman III missile silos

Distance and flight time from Chukotka:

🎯 Minuteman III missile silos in Montana: 4,700 km, 23 minutes;
🎯 Minuteman III missile silos in Minot, North Dakota: 4,900 km, 24 minutes.

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