Trump speaks with Putin as he considers selling Ukraine long-range missiles – National

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he was speaking with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as he considers Ukraine’s push for long-range missiles.

“I’m chatting with President Putin now,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website shortly after a White House official confirmed the decision to the Associated Press and Reuters.

“The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I’ll report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion. Thanks to your attention to this matter!”

The decision comes ahead of Trump’s meeting on Friday on the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been pressing Trump to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles that might allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory. Zelenskyy has argued such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to finish the war more seriously.

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Trump had told reporters traveling with him to Israel on Sunday that he had planned to debate the Tomahawks with Putin as a method to pressure him to finish Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Do they need to have Tomahawks getting in that direction? I don’t think so,” Trump said on Sunday. “I feel I would speak to Russia about that.”


Click to play video: 'Trump hints at giving Ukraine Tomahawk missiles if Russia doesn’t end war'


Trump hints at giving Ukraine Tomahawk missiles if Russia doesn’t end war


The White House official who disclosed the Trump-Putin call was not authorized to comment on it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal holding, Trump has said he’s now turning his attention to bringing the war in Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kyiv long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow to the negotiating table.

Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Trump’s 2024 reelection pitch, through which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts. Yet, like his predecessor, Trump also has been stymied by Putin as he’s unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to carry direct talks with Zelenskyy to finish the war, which is nearing its fourth 12 months.

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But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Trump is showing recent confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion. He’s also signaling that he’s able to step up pressure on Putin if he doesn’t come to the table soon.

“Interestingly we made progress today, due to what’s happened within the Middle East,” Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday evening as he welcomed supporters of his White House ballroom project to a glitzy dinner.


Click to play video: 'Large parts of Kyiv in dark after Russian attack as Ukraine hits back at oil and gas sector'


Large parts of Kyiv in dark after Russian attack as Ukraine hits back at oil and gas sector


Earlier this week in Jerusalem, in a speech to the Knesset, Trump predicted the truce in Gaza would lay the groundwork for the U.S. to assist Israel and lots of of its Middle East neighbors normalize relations. But Trump also made clear his top foreign policy priority now’s ending the most important armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

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“First we have now to get Russia done,” Trump said, turning to his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has also served as his administration’s chief interlocutor with Putin. “We gotta get that one done. If you happen to don’t mind, Steve, let’s concentrate on Russia first. All right?”

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Trump weighs Tomahawks for Ukraine

Trump is about to host Zelenskyy for talks Friday, their fourth face-to-face meeting this 12 months.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump has said he’s weighing selling Kyiv long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. Putin has made clear that providing Ukraine with Tomahawks would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

But Trump has been undeterred.

“He’d wish to have Tomahawks,” Trump said of Zelenskyy on Tuesday. “We have now a number of Tomahawks.”

Agreeing to sell Ukraine Tomahawks can be a splashy move, said Mark Montgomery, an analyst on the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. But it surely could take years to provide and train Kyiv on the Tomahawk system.


Click to play video: 'Are Russia and Ukraine trying to make the coming winter colder with attacks on infrastructure?'


Are Russia and Ukraine attempting to make the approaching winter colder with attacks on infrastructure?


Montgomery said Ukraine could possibly be higher served within the near term with a surge of Prolonged Range Attack Munition, or ERAM, missiles and Army Tactical Missile System, generally known as ATACMS. The U.S. already approved the sale of as much as 3,350 ERAMs to Kyiv earlier this 12 months.

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The Tomahawk, with a spread of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers), would allow Ukraine to strike far deeper in Russian territory than either the ERAM (about 285 miles, or 460 km) or ATACMS (about 186 miles, or 300 kilometers).

“To supply Tomahawks is as much a political decision because it is a military decision,” Montgomery said. “The ERAM is shorter range, but this can assist them put pressure on Russia operationally, on their logistics, the command and control, and its force disbursement inside several hundred kilometers of the front line. It will possibly be very effective.”

Signs of White House interest in recent Russia sanctions

Zelenskyy is predicted to reiterate his plea to Trump to hit Russia’s economy with further sanctions, something the Republican, to this point, has appeared reluctant to do.

Congress has weighed laws that might result in tougher sanctions on Moscow, but Trump has largely focused his attention on pressuring NATO members and other allies to chop off their purchases of Russian oil, the engine fueling Moscow’s war machine. To that end, Trump said Wednesday that India, which became one in all Russia’s biggest crude buyers after the Ukraine invasion, had agreed to stop buying oil from Moscow.

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Click to play video: 'Putin will ‘drop out’ of Ukraine war if oil prices fall, Trump says: ‘He’s going to have no choice’'


Putin will ‘drop out’ of Ukraine war if oil prices fall, Trump says: ‘He’s going to haven’t any alternative’


Waiting for Trump’s blessing is laws within the Senate that might impose steep tariffs on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports in an try to cripple Moscow economically.

Though the president hasn’t formally endorsed it — and Republican leaders don’t plan to maneuver forward without his support — the White House has shown, behind the scenes, more interest within the bill in recent weeks.

Administration officials have passed through the laws in depth, offering line edits and requesting technical changes, in line with two officials with knowledge of the discussions between the White House and the Senate. That has been interpreted on Capitol Hill as an indication that Trump is getting more serious concerning the laws, sponsored by close ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., together with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

A White House official said the administration is working with lawmakers to be sure that that “introduced bills advance the president’s foreign policy objectives and authorities.” The official, who was granted anonymity to debate private deliberations, said any sanctions package needs to offer the president “complete flexibility.”

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the administration is waiting for greater buy-in from Europe, which he noted faces a much bigger threat from Russian aggression than the U.S. does.

“So all I hear from the Europeans is that Putin is coming to Warsaw,” Bessent said. “There are only a few things in life I’m sure about. I’m sure he’s not coming to Boston. So, we are going to respond … if our European partners will join us.”

AP writers Fatima Hussein, Chris Megerian and Didi Tang contributed to this report.


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