US president Donald Trump has warned Russia he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow does not settle its war there soon
Mr Trump suggested he could be ready to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government using a key weapons system.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, he said: “I might say, ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks’. The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.
“I might tell them that if the war is not settled – that we may very well. We may not, but we may do it. I think it’s appropriate to bring up.”
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Mr Trump said he mentioned possibly sending Tomahawks during a conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy
“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” Mr Trump said of Russia.
“I think I might speak to Russia about that. Tomahawks are a new step of aggression.”
Mr Trump said on board Air Force One: “I really think Putin would look great if he got this settled” and that “It’s not going to be good for him” if not.
His suggestions followed Russia having attacked Ukraine’s power grid overnight, part of an ongoing campaign to cripple Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter.
Moscow also expressed “extreme concern” over the US potentially providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Mr Putin himself has previously suggested that the United States supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
For his part, Mr Zelenskiy described his latest call with Mr Trump as “very productive”, and said the pair had discussed strengthening Ukraine’s “air defence, resilience, and long-range capabilities”, along with “details related to the energy sector”.
In an interview with Fox News Channel’s The Sunday Briefing after his call with the US president, Mr Zelenskiy was asked whether Mr Trump had approved the Tomahawks and said, “we work on it”.
“I’m waiting for president to yes,” Mr Zelenskiy said. “Of course we count on such decisions, but we will see. We will see.”
The Ukrainian president said on Friday that he was in talks with US officials about the possible provision of various long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawks and more ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks published on Sunday that “the topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern”.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could end badly for everyone, especially Mr Trump.
Mr Medvedev said it is impossible to distinguish between Tomahawk missiles carrying nuclear warheads and conventional ones after they are launched.
“How should Russia respond? Exactly!” Mr Medvedev said on Telegram, appearing to hint that Moscow’s response would be nuclear.
Mr Trump, who has been frustrated by Russia in his efforts to end the war, said last week that he has “sort of made a decision” on whether to send Tomahawks to Ukraine, without elaborating. A senior Ukrainian delegation is set to visit the US this week.
The US president in recent weeks has taken a notably tougher tact with Mr Putin, after the Russian leader has declined to engage in direct talks with Mr Zelenskiy about easing fighting.
Last month, Mr Trump announced that he believes Ukraine could win back all the territory lost to Russia – a dramatic shift from his repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But Mr Trump has resisted Mr Zelenskiy’s calls for Tomahawks. They would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and put the sort of pressure on Mr Putin that Mr Zelenskiy argues is needed to get the Russians to seriously engage in peace talks.
Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula overnight, a Ukrainian security official told Reuters on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The drones, launched by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service and military special forces, hit at least five reservoirs at the facility causing a large fire, according to the source.
The source said drones also hit at least two Russian electrical substations on the peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014. – AP and Reuters
