Trump says he's "sort of made a decision" on supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine
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President Trump at the White House on Monday. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Trump said on Monday that he has "sort of made a decision" about selling long-range Tomahawk missiles to NATO countries in order for them to be supplied to Ukraine.
Why it matters: Ukraine claims the Tomahawks would give it the ability to hit military targets deep inside Russia and help in deterring Russian leader Vladimir Putin and getting him to the negotiating table on better terms.
State of play: I sort of made a decision pretty much," Trump said when asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he had made a decision on supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine.
- Trump said he wants to know what the Ukrainians plan to do with the missiles before he supplies them.
- "Where they are sending them, I guess I will have to ask that question. I would ask some questions. I am not looking to see an escalation," he said.
What they're saying: "A Ukrainian official and a source close to the Ukrainian government said they didn't know what Trump's decision was.
- The source close to the Ukrainian government said Trump administration officials expressed concerns in recent weeks about whether the U.S. could control the use of the missiles by Ukraine after they are bought and paid for by NATO countries.
Friction point: Putin said on Sunday that the supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine would be a "completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation."
- He stressed that Ukraine could not use the missiles without direct participation from the U.S., which would put the United States and Russia in direct confrontation and destroy any positive progress in the relations between the countries.
Driving the news: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Trump during their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month to provide Kyiv with Tomahawk missiles, which could give Ukraine the ability to strike as far into Russia as Moscow.
- Zelensky told "The Axios Show" that he'd asked Trump for an additional weapons system that could force Putin to enter peace talks — perhaps without Ukraine even having to use it.
- The Ukrainian leader did not name this weapons system during his interview with Axios, but he said that if Russia knew Ukraine had it, the pressure to talk would greatly increase.
- A Ukrainian official and another source familiar with the Trump-Zelensky meeting confirmed it was the Tomahawk — a long-range, precision-guided missile.
