President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he could ship Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its conflict there quickly — suggesting that he could possibly be prepared to extend the stress on Vladimir Putin’s authorities utilizing a key weapons system.
“I might say, ’Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump advised reporters aboard Air Drive One as he flew to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”
Trump mentioned, “I might tell them that if the war is not settled — that we may very well.” He added, “We may not, but we may do it. I think it’s appropriate to bring up.”
His feedback got here after Trump spoke by cellphone earlier Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Trump mentioned he talked about presumably sending Tomahawks throughout that dialog.
“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” Trump mentioned of Russia. “I think I might speak to Russia about that.” He added that “Tomahawks are a new step of aggression.”
His solutions adopted Russia having attacked Ukraine’s energy grid in a single day, a part of an ongoing marketing campaign to cripple Ukrainian vitality infrastructure earlier than winter. Moscow additionally expressed “extreme concern” over the U.S. doubtlessly offering Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Putin himself has beforehand recommended that the US supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will severely injury relations between Moscow and Washington.
For his half, Zelenskyy described his newest name with Trump as “very productive,” and mentioned the pair had mentioned strengthening Ukraine’s “air defense, resilience, and long-range capabilities,” together with “details related to the energy sector.”
Trump in latest weeks has taken a notably harder tact with Putin, after the Russian chief has declined to interact in direct talks with Zelenskyy about easing preventing.
Final month, Trump introduced that he now believes Ukraine may win again all of the territory misplaced to Russia — a dramatic shift from the Republican’s repeated requires Kyiv to make concessions to finish Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
However the U.S. president, no less than up to now, has resisted Zelenskyy’s requires Tomahawks. The weapon system would permit Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and put the kind of stress on Putin that Zelenskyy argues is required to get the Russians to significantly interact in peace talks.
Trump mentioned aboard Air Drive One of many conflict: “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.
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