Donald Trump: "An absolute disgrace!" Trump envoy shocks with nuclear weapons comment

Donald Trump: "An absolute disgrace!" Trump envoy shocks with nuclear weapons comment gom/news.de • 1 hour • 3 minutes read Donald Trump (78) recently drew the anger of many Ukrainians with his behavior toward Volodymyr Zelensky (47). The US President blamed his counterpart in Kyiv for the ongoing war against Russia and temporarily cut off American military aid. It was Vladimir Putin's troops who launched their invasion in February 2022. Although the situation has since calmed down, and the two countries have resumed talks about a possible ceasefire, Trump's Special Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell (58), is now once again causing resentment in Ukraine. The reason for this is his statements about nuclear weapons previously stationed on Ukrainian territory. Donald Trump: Special Envoy Richard Grenell speaks out about Ukrainian nuclear weapons What you need to know: Richard Grenell spoke out on Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter) about a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum. At the time, Ukraine possessed the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it handed over all of its weapons to Russia. In return, Ukraine was promised security guarantees. Signatory states such as the United States, Great Britain, and Russia reaffirmed in the Budapest Memorandum, among other things, that they would uphold Ukraine's sovereignty and existing borders. According to the West, Moscow violated the agreement with its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and its invasion in 2022. Trump envoy causes outrage in Ukraine with statements on the Budapest Memorandum Richard Grenell wrote: "Let's be clear about the Budapest Memorandum: The nuclear bombs belonged to Russia and were left over. Ukraine returned the nuclear weapons to Russia. They did not belong to Ukraine. This is an uncomfortable fact." Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko (54), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in his country's parliament, expressed outrage after these statements. Merezhko told the American news portal "Newsweek" that he was "shocked" by the US special envoy's "completely false" statement. He added that the remarks were "an absolute disgrace." As the successor state to the USSR, Ukraine is the rightful owner of these nuclear weapons. They are the only viable deterrent against Russian attacks. However, according to Merezhko, Ukraine was in a "very vulnerable" position in the 1990s and was in danger of becoming diplomatically isolated from Moscow and Washington. Former US Ambassador to Bill Clinton Shares Criticism of Donald Trump's Colleague Oleksandr Merezhko receives support from, among others, Steven Pifer (71), the former US Ambassador to Ukraine under former Democratic President Bill Clinton (78). He was involved in the negotiations on the Budapest Memorandum. The American describes the nuclear weapons stored in Ukraine in the 1990s as "ex-Soviet, not Russian." The warheads there were "in sole Ukrainian custody." He also pointed out that most of the intercontinental ballistic missiles and bomber aircraft within the country have been "eliminated." "Ukraine chose to send nuclear warheads to Russia for disposal because Russia has pledged to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and not to use force against Ukraine," Pifer continued. Bill Clinton admitted in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE in 2023 that he shared responsibility for the Russian invasion, as he helped convince Ukraine to abandon its nuclear weapons.