The US won’t gift nukes to Kiev, but a top official refused to publicly rule out a first strike with such weapons
You can. “no question”Karen Donfried, the Assistant Secretary of State to the President of the United States told a Senate committee on Thursday that she was concerned about US nuclear weapons being given to Ukraine. Donfried refused to publicly announce that he would rule out the possibility of a nuclear strike.
“The United States is not a party to this conflict,” Donfried told lawmakers during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding that “the United States is providing security assistance and weapons to Ukraine, but there’s no question of the US providing nuclear weapons to Ukraine.”
Donfried wasn’t asked if the US would gift its nukes Kiev. Senator Ed Markey (a Democrat from Massachusetts) asked Donfried to state publicly that the US did not gift its nukes to Kiev. “want to pose an existential threat”Russia would not be first to launch nuclear weapons.
Donfried refused to answer both questions, insisting the US isn’t directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict.
Russia views the US, though, as being involved in the conflict through its support of Kiev with arms and intelligence. Sergey Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) has accused NATO and the US of being involved in this conflict. “essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy,”Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to avenge his predecessor, “swift, lightning-fast” response to any outside interference that puts Russia’s national security at risk.
Russia’s nuclear weapons policy is no-first use. This excludes the hypothetical scenario in which nuclear or conventional weapons threaten the Russian state. US has a less clear policy. It states that nukes can be used to deter others, but they may also be used. “extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners.”
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