US chewed over giving Ukraine back it's 1990s nukes as terrifying deterrent during war

General Mark Milley suggested neither Russia nor Ukraine could win the war with negotiated settlement the only route to peace with plans to allow Russia to keep Ukrainian territory

18:36, 26 Nov 2024Updated 19:31, 26 Nov 2024

[Donald Trump believes a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia is the only 'real viable option' left]

Donald Trump believes a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia is the only 'real viable option' left(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump's potential decision to make a negotiated settlement for both Ukraine and Russia to end the war may mean less room for Ukraine to win, a general claimed.

General Mark A. Milley, the then chief military adviser to President Biden, suggested that neither Russia nor Ukraine could win the war. A negotiated settlement, he argued, was the only route to peace.

Reports in the US even suggested the US could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union - which could help Kyiv's hand in negotiations or dangerously ramp up tensions.

Trump, however, has made clear his distaste for continuing to help Ukraine take back territory seized by Russia, making a negotiated settlement the only real viable option left.

[General Mark Milley during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, in July 2023]

General Mark Milley during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, in July 2023(Image: AP)

The New York Times reports Ukraine is 'concerned' about whether the Trump administration or Europe will provide any security guarantees that would prevent Russia from invading more territory. Trump has said he would end the war quickly, though he has not explained how.

Other aides have outlined a possible plan that would allow Russia to keep the Ukrainian territory it has taken.

A phone call just after the election between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine shed little light on the question of security guarantees. Aides to both men simply described the tone of the call as positive.

In recent days, Mr. Biden authorised the use of more 'assertive measures' until he is due to depart the highest US office. Missiles, known as ATACMS, for Army Tactical Missile Systems, have been used to strike inside Russia for the first time. Ukraine used them on Tuesday to strike an ammunition depot in southwestern Russia, according to Ukrainian officials.

[In recent days, Mr. Biden authorised the use of more 'assertive measures']

In recent days, Mr. Biden authorised the use of more 'assertive measures'(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Last week, Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III said the Biden administration had approved supplying Ukraine with American anti-personnel mines to bolster defences against Russian attacks as front lines in Ukraines east buckle.

The White House has said it will allocate the remaining $9 billion in security assistance before Trump takes office. Of that amount, the administration plans to give Ukraine just over $7 billion worth of arms and munitions from Pentagon stocks, and about $2.1 billion to order more weapons from U.S. defence contractors.

Pentagon officials claim it would be challenging for the Trump administration to suspend aid that has already been approved by Congress and set into motion. It was also lifting a ban on US military contractors to help Ukraine's military maintain and repair U.S F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defences.

The Defense Department is soliciting bids for a small number of contractors who would be far from the front lines and would not be fighting Russian forces, a Pentagon official said.

[A 16-story residential building in Kyiv is damaged by a Russian kamikaze drone fragment, pictured in November 2024]

A 16-story residential building in Kyiv is damaged by a Russian kamikaze drone fragment, pictured in November 2024(Image: Global Images Ukraine via Getty)

The administrations decision to allow Ukraine to use the ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia was a major change in U.S. policy. It came partly in response to Russias decision to bring North Korean troops into the war, officials have said.

Putin knows he has to wait only two months for a new administration believed to view Russia more favorably, and his choice for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has often repeated Kremlin talking points.

Ukraine has lost territory in the east, and its forces in the Kursk region in western Russia have been partly pushed back as North Korean recruits join the fight. The number of Ukraine's soldiers killed in action, about 57,000, is half of Russias losses but significant for the much smaller country.

Speeding up US weaponry in the waning months of the Biden administration will not do much to change the course of war but could help Ukraine enforce a cease-fire or armistice line if there were to be a settlement, officials said.

Ukraine will not be able to join NATO either through Biden or Trumps presidency. U.S. and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.

[Ukrainian soldiers from the Chervona Kalyna Brigade fire Soviet-era 2S1 artillery in Donetsk, Ukraine]

Ukrainian soldiers from the Chervona Kalyna Brigade fire Soviet-era 2S1 artillery in Donetsk, Ukraine(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

The New York Times reported that several officials suggested the US could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union. The report said: "That would be an instant and enormous deterrent. But such a step would be complicated and have serious implications"

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Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister, said in an interview that for a successful cease-fire, Ukraine and its allies must reverse the momentum on the front line to set conditions for talks.

Ukraines army, though on a back foot now, has held out for more than two and a half years against a larger, more powerful opponent. The fact that we went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson is a success, Mr Zagorodnyuk said.

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