Trump may approve Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine if Russia continues war

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Oct 12 that he may offer long-range Tomahawk missiles that could be used by Kyiv if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not end the war in Ukraine.

Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Israel that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed Mr Zelensky's request for weaponry, including Tomahawks.

They spoke by phone on Oct 11 and Oct 12.

Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500km, long enough to strike deep inside Russia, including Moscow.

The Kremlin has warned against any provision of Tomahawks to Ukraine, and Mr Trump on Oct 12 said they would be “a new step of aggression” if introduced into the war.

The United States would not sell missiles directly to Ukraine, but would provide them to Nato, which can then offer them to the Ukrainians, Mr Trump said.

“Yeah, I might tell him (Putin), if the war is not settled, we may very well do it,” the US President said. “We may not, but we may do it... Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”

Mr Zelensky said earlier that Ukraine would use Tomahawk missiles only for military purposes
and would not attack civilians in Russia, should the US provide them.

“We never attacked their civilians. This is the big difference between Ukraine and Russia,” the Ukrainian leader said on Fox News’ Sunday Briefing programme.

“That's why, if we speak about long-range (missiles), we speak only about military goals.”

Mr Zelensky’s comments, which were recorded on Oct 11, were aired on Oct 12 after his second talks in as many days with Mr Trump.

The Ukrainian leader said they are still discussing the possibility that Washington might provide Kyiv with the long-range missiles.

Mr Trump said last week that before agreeing to provide the Tomahawks, he wants to know how Ukraine would use them
because he does not want to escalate the war.

Mr Zelensky said he was still working on trying to convince Mr Trump to approve a missile deal.

“We count on such decisions, but we'll see,” Mr Zelensky said.

Mr Putin said earlier in October that it was impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of US military personnel, and so, any supply of such missiles to Ukraine would trigger a “qualitatively new stage of escalation”.

Still, Mr Zelensky, in an evening address on Oct 12 in Ukraine, said he saw Russia's concerns as reason to press forward.

“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.

The war in Ukraine is Europe’s deadliest since World War II, and Russian officials say they are now in a “hot” conflict with the West.

Mr Putin portrays it as a watershed moment in Moscow's relations with the West, which he says humiliated Russia after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union by enlarging Nato and encroaching on what he considers Moscow's sphere of influence, including Ukraine and Georgia.

Ukraine and its allies have cast the war as an imperial-style land grab and have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces. REUTERS