Donald Trump is considering sending Ukraine powerful long-range weapons often called Tomahawk missiles.
The US President had a second phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend, during which Zelensky pressed for stronger weapons to counter Russian strikes.
While the US has for years resisted the move – the missiles have long been a not-so-secret weapon the country has in its back pocket – it seems the US President is warming as much as the thought.
Asked this morning on Air Force One if he would send Tomahawks to Ukraine, Trump replied: ‘We’ll see… I could.’
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Speaking while flying to Israel ahead of the discharge of around 20 Israeli hostages, Trump said he may speak with Russia first about doing so.
‘I’d tell them [Russia] that if the war shouldn’t be settled, that we may thoroughly, we may not, but we may do it,’ he added.
‘Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks entering into their direction? I don’t think so.’
Only earlier this month did Trump’s Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, say he doubts Washington would ever send Kyiv the missiles.
Putin warned that doing so would further escalate an already drawn-out conflict while describing Trump as someone who ‘likes to shock’ but who also ‘knows how you can listen’.
The president said during a foreign policy conference: ‘What I see is that, as of today, the US leadership remains to be inclined to pursue a unique policy.’
He added that Washington is ‘specializing in achieving national development goals, as they understand them’, suggesting that Trump would reject Zelensky’s pleas for Tomahawk missiles.
What are Tomahawk missiles?
Whether the US will send Ukraine long-range missiles has long been up for debate, with Zelensky pleading for weapons that may strike deep into Russian territory.
The Tomahawk was developed within the Seventies for the US Navy before being tweaked into air- and ground-launched versions for the Air Force and Army.
There are lots of kinds of Tomahawk, but they’ll generally reach targets about 1,500 miles away – Moscow is just 500 miles from Kyiv.
Tomahawks, which easily cost $2,000,000, can carry a warhead with the explosive power of 180kg of TNT or a thermonuclear device.
These monster cruise missiles differ from high-flying ballistic missiles, having tiny wings that allow them to fly horizontally low to the bottom.
They even have small jet engines to achieve distances five times farther than the ATACMS, pronounced ‘attack ’ems’, an American ballistic missile.
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