US President Donald Trump has said he was not considering sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
Asked by reporter whether he was considering a deal to sell Tomahawks to Ukraine, Trump said “No, not really”. He added, however, that he could change his mind.
Kyiv has sought to purchase US-produced Tomahawk missiles with a range of over 2,500 kilometers although Ukraine’s domestically-produced drones also have capability to strike targets deep in Russia.
The purchase of Tomahawks was high on the agenda of the Washington meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US leader Donald Trump last month. During the bilateral lunch held in Oval Office on October 18.
Trump said Washginton would need Tomahawks for its own army, however did not rule out that the long-range assault missiles could be provided to Kyiv in the near future. In an interview with the US media following the meeting, Zelenskiy expressed hope about the much-needed Tomahaw’s supply to his country. The meeting third Zelenskiy-Trump meeting since Trump’s inauguration in January came a day after the one-and-half-long phone call between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The phone call is believed to have set the tone for Trump’s remarks about Tomahawks during his meeting with Zelenskiy.
