US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he may approve the supply of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to end the ongoing war. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Israel, Trump revealed that he had discussed the issue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during two recent phone calls over the weekend.
Tomahawk missiles, known for their precision and long range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles), are capable of striking deep inside Russian territory — including Moscow. The Kremlin has already warned that any provision of such weapons to Kyiv would be considered a “new step of aggression.”
Trump emphasized that the United States would not directly sell these missiles to Ukraine. Instead, Washington might supply them to NATO allies, who could then transfer them to Kyiv. “Yeah, I might tell him [Putin], if the war is not settled, we may very well do it,” Trump said. “We may not, but we may do it. Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”
Zelenskiy’s Request and Assurances
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy confirmed that he had appealed for long-range missiles, including Tomahawks, but assured that Ukraine would use them strictly for military purposes. “We never attacked their civilians. This is the big difference between Ukraine and Russia,” he said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing.” “If we speak about long-range missiles, we speak only about military goals.”
Zelenskiy’s comments were recorded on Saturday and aired after his second round of talks with Trump. He expressed cautious optimism, saying, “We count on such decisions, but we’ll see.” The Ukrainian leader acknowledged that discussions with Washington were ongoing and that he was still trying to convince Trump to approve the missile deal.
Putin’s Warning and Fears of Escalation
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly cautioned that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine would mark a dangerous escalation in the war. He claimed that the missiles cannot be operated without direct US military involvement, suggesting that such a move would trigger “a qualitatively new stage of escalation.”
Despite Moscow’s warnings, Zelenskiy said Russia’s nervousness underscored the effectiveness of the proposal. “We see and hear that Russia is afraid that the Americans may give us Tomahawks — that this kind of pressure may work for peace,” he said in a Sunday night address to the nation.
A Conflict Reshaping Europe
The war in Ukraine, now in its third year, remains Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Putin portrays it as a turning point in Russia’s relationship with the West — accusing NATO of encroaching on Moscow’s sphere of influence following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Kyiv and its Western allies, on the other hand, view Russia’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab, vowing not to stop until Ukrainian sovereignty is fully restored. Trump, who has sought to position himself as a potential peace broker, insists he does not want to escalate the conflict but says all options remain open if Putin refuses to negotiate.
Meanwhile, China has also criticized Trump’s latest move to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, accusing the US of “double standards” — a sign that geopolitical tensions continue to rise on multiple fronts even as Washington weighs arming Ukraine with one of its most powerful conventional weapons.
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