U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 12 that he is prepared to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine but said he plans to first discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest, about the Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters. “Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”
When asked if he meant he would speak with Putin before supplying the missiles, Trump said that possibility depends on Moscow’s willingness to end the war.
“Maybe I’ll talk to him. I might say, look, if the war is not settled, I’ll send them the Tomahawks,” he said, calling the weapon “a very offensive weapon.”
Trump stressed that “Russia does not need that,” but warned the U.S. may still proceed with the delivery if the conflict continues.
“I think President Putin would look great if he got this settled,” Trump later added, “and I think he’s going to settle it. If he doesn’t, it’s not going to be good for him.”
"The topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 12 and noted that "Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides."
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 9 that the delivery of the Tomahawk cruise missiles may force Russia to see the real state of affairs, and sit down at the negotiating table.
The Tomahawk is a subsonic, long-range cruise missile designed for precision strikes. With a range of 1,600 to 2,500 kilometers (995 to 1,550 miles), it would allow Kyiv to reach targets as far as Siberia.
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