On Monday, October 6, President Trump stated that he wants to understand how Ukraine plans to use American-made “Tomahawk” missiles before deciding whether to supply them, as he does not want to escalate Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has requested the United States to sell Tomahawk missiles to European countries, which will then provide them to Ukraine.
The Tomahawk missile has a range of 2500 kilometers (1550 miles), and if Ukraine were to acquire these missiles, Moscow would fall within the range of the Ukrainian Tomahawk missiles.
At the White House, when asked if Trump has decided to provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, the President did not rule out this possibility, stating that he had made “some kind of decision” on the matter.
“I want to figure out what they are going to do with these weapons,” he said. “Where are they going to send them? I think I have to ask that question.”
“I will ask some questions. I don’t want to escalate the war,” he added.
Trump also expressed that the Russia-Ukraine war should not have erupted in the first place. The war is very terrible, with both sides losing over 7000 soldiers this week.
Russian President Putin, in a video released on Sunday, stated that if the United States provides Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for deep strikes into Russia, it will lead to a breakdown in U.S.-Russia relations.
During a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Zelensky had also requested Tomahawk missiles and believed that the system could compel Russian President Putin to engage in negotiations.
Zelensky subsequently mentioned that Trump was open to this request.
On September 28, Vice President Pence, in an interview with Fox News, mentioned that the government had been discussing the issue of providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, and the final decision on whether to approve it would be made by President Trump.
(Reference: This article is based on reports from Reuters)