Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Russia expanded territory of nuclear weapons deployment after annexation of Crimea
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin stated in New York that "the continuing occupation of the territory of Ukraine by a nuclear state has led to an actual expansion of the geographic area for the deployment of nuclear weapons", as stated by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on December 15 during a speech at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York regarding the North Korean nuclear program, the Press Service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
Klimkin noted that the illegal annexation of Crimea and continuing Russian aggression in the Donbas has meant that nuclear research reactor in Sevastopol, two nuclear storage facilities and more than 1,200 radionuclide sources are without proper control by Ukrainian authorities.
He recalled that in early December Ukraine celebrated the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, in connection with the country’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) on July 1, 1968.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister noted that in exchange for Ukraine's voluntary renunciation of its nuclear arsenal, the nuclear states pledged to respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and existing borders, but the commitment has been "insidiously violated by Russia."
"In order to prevent the world from sliding into the state of lawlessness, we must stand united to ensure respect for international law. We must stand united to ensure responsibility for its violation," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister added.
Russia will take into account the anti-Russian direction of the US defense budget, Federation Council defense committee chairperson Viktor Bondarev told RIA Novosti.
“We cannot neglect to pay attention to something like that, or ignore such lunges,” he said, adding that such an approach to the formulation of the US budget is evidence of a serious attitude towards Russia. “The Americans sense our strength, they see us as their geopolitical rival, equal in some things and superior in others,” he emphasized.
Bondarev added that there will be no “mirror” response articles in the defense section of the Russian budget. “We will strengthen our defensive capabilities not opportunistically, but in a planned and continuous manner,” he stressed.
“Neither the intensification of the US’s joint exercises with European satellites or the expansion of NATO infrastructure constitutes a danger for us with our solid national defense system. Even the hypothetical deployment of American intermediate range weaponry in Europe would not create a threat for Russia, with its powerful anti-air defense system,” the senator said.
US President Donald Trump ratified the defense budget for $692 billion. $4.6 billion is allocated to the initiative to support allies in Europe and NATO states and to “deter Russia” (including $100 million to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Baltic States). It also entails a prohibition on collaboration with the Russian Defense Ministry. The bill obligates the president to inform congress of any agreements with Russia in the context of the situation in Syria.