Trump's Special Envoy Grenell claims nuclear weapons in Ukraine allegedly belonged to Russia

10:50, 26.03.2025 1 min read

US Presidential Special Envoy Richard Grenell has said that the nuclear weapons that were on Ukrainian territory belonged to Russia.

“Let’s be clear about the Budapest Memorandum: the nukes were Russia’s and were leftovers. Ukraine gave the nukes back to Russia. They weren’t Ukraine’s. This is an uncomfortable fact,” he said on X.

At the same time, former US Ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), expert on nuclear weapons Steven Pifer responded by stating that Grenell is "flat wrong."

I helped negotiate Budapest Memorandum. Grenell is flat wrong. Nuclear warheads in Ukraine were ex-Soviet, not Russian. Warheads in storage were in sole Ukrainian custody. ICBMs and bombers were eliminated in Ukraine except small number sent to Russia for debt relief,” he said on X.

He added that Ukraine decided to send the nuclear warheads to Russia for destruction in large part because Moscow had committed to respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and not to use force against Ukraine.

He advised Grenell to study history in its entirety.