The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly signaled that he wants the long-range cruise missiles to strike deep into Russian territory
US President Donald Trump has said Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky will again ask for American-made Tomahawk cruise missiles at their meeting on Friday.
Speaking at a press briefing at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he expects to discuss arms supplies with Zelensky at their upcoming meeting.
“I know what he has to say. He wants weapons. He would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump said. “Everyone else wants Tomahawks. We have a lot of Tomahawks.”
Just days earlier, the president said that he would provide the cruise missiles to Kiev if the Ukraine conflict “is not going to get settled.” The supplies would be “a new step of aggression,” he admitted.
The weapons have a maximum range of 2,500km (1,550 miles), which means they could potentially allow Ukraine to strike Moscow and other cities even further into Russian territory.
Supplies of these missiles to Kiev would mark a “new stage of escalation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month. “Using Tomahawks without the direct involvement of American military personnel is impossible.”
He added that while deliveries of the weapons could not alter the course of the conflict, they would destroy any recent diplomatic progress between Moscow and Washington.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has echoed the concern, arguing that Kiev cannot be trusted to handle the weapons responsibly. Kremlin officials have repeatedly accused Ukraine of misusing Western-supplied weapons for deliberate strikes on civilians.
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