US President Donald Trump is considering sending long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Asked by reporters on Air Force One on Sunday whether he would provide Kyiv with Tomahawks, Trump replied: We'll see... I may. The missiles would be a new step of aggression in Ukraine's war with Russia, he said.
The comments follow a phone call at the weekend between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who pushed for stronger military capabilities to launch counter-attacks against Russia.
Moscow has previously warned Washington against providing long-range missiles to Kyiv, saying it would cause a major escalation in the conflict and strain US-Russian relations.
Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), which would put Moscow within reach for Ukraine. Trump indicated he might speak to Russia about the Tomahawks requested by Ukraine, stating, I might tell them [Russia] that if the war is not settled, that we may very well, we may not, but we may do it. He speculated whether Russia would appreciate the idea of Tomahawks heading in its direction.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled the topic of Tomahawks as extreme concern for Russia, noting that present tensions are escalating from all sides. He suggested that if Tomahawks were launched at Russia, Moscow could not determine whether they were armed with nuclear warheads. Peskov's rhetoric escalated further, with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warning that such deliveries could end badly, especially for Trump.
In their recent phone calls, Zelensky and Trump discussed Ukraine's bid to strengthen its military capabilities, including bolstering air defenses and long-range arms. Amidst persistent Russian bombardments targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, the requests for advanced arms have become even more pressing.
