US President Trump Considering Sending Long-Range Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to Ukraine
Asked by reporters on Air Force One on Sunday whether he would provide Kyiv with Tomahawk missiles, US President Donald Trump replied, “We’ll see… I may.” He described the missiles as “a new step of aggression” in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
The comments followed a weekend phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Zelensky pushed for stronger military capabilities to launch counter-attacks against Russia.
Moscow has previously warned Washington against supplying long-range missiles to Kyiv, saying it would cause a major escalation in the conflict and strain US-Russian relations. Tomahawk missiles, with a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), would put Moscow within reach of Ukrainian strikes.
Trump’s stance toward Russia has hardened in recent months as he has grown impatient with Vladimir Putin’s lack of cooperation in reaching a ceasefire deal with Kyiv. “I might tell them [Russia] that if the war is not settled, we may very well [send Tomahawks to Kyiv]… we may not, but we may do it,” he said. “Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so,” he added.
On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the topic of Tomahawks was of “extreme concern” to Russia. “Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides,” he said. In September, Peskov had dismissed the threat of Tomahawks, saying they would not be able to “change the dynamic” of the war.
However, in his latest comments, Peskov noted that if Tomahawks were launched at Russia, Moscow would not be able to determine whether they carried nuclear warheads. “What should the Russian Federation think? Just how should Russia react?” he asked.
On Monday morning, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev echoed Peskov’s concerns. “How should Russia respond? Exactly!” Medvedev wrote on social media. “The delivery of these missiles could end badly for everyone. And first of all – for Trump himself.” Known for his increasingly hawkish positions, Medvedev frequently posts more extreme views than official Kremlin statements. He and Trump have previously sparred online; in August, Medvedev’s comments prompted Trump to announce that he had ordered two nuclear submarines closer to Russia.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Kyiv has repeatedly requested long-range missiles as it considers striking Russian cities far from the front lines. In recent phone calls, Zelensky and Trump discussed Ukraine’s plans to strengthen its military capabilities, including enhancing air defences and acquiring long-range arms.
—BBC
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