Moscow expressed “extreme concern” over the US potentially providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Putin himself has previously suggested that the United States supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
Smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Russia after a drone attack in May 2023.Credit: Veniamin Kondratyev Telegram/AP
For his part, Zelensky described his latest call with Trump as “very productive” and said the pair had discussed strengthening Ukraine’s “air defense, 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 Trump, Zelensky was asked whether Trump had approved the Tomahawks and said “we work on it”.
“I’m waiting for president to yes,” Zelensky said. “Of course we count on such decisions, but we will see. We will see.”
The Ukrainian president said 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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg last week.Credit: AP
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks published Sunday that “the topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern”.
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 Putin after the Russian leader declined to engage in direct talks with Zelensky about easing fighting.
Last month, Trump announced that he now believes Ukraine could win back all the territory lost to Russia – a dramatic shift from the Republican’s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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But Trump, at least so far, has resisted Zelensky’s calls for Tomahawks. They would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and put the sort of pressure on Putin that Zelensky argues is needed to get the Russians to seriously engage in peace talks.
Trump said aboard Air Force One of the war: “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.
