1 of 2 | The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from its bow in an undated photo. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he may supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.
File Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Sunderman/U.S. Navy
Oct. 13 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he may supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.
Trump, on Air Force One, told reporters that he might issue an ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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,” NBC reported he said.
Trump was flying to the Middle East Monday, to Israel and Egypt for talks on the Gaza peace deal.
Supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks would allow the country to hit targets more than 1,000 miles away, striking deeper into Russian territory.
A Russian lawmaker last week said if Ukraine fires Tomahawks, Russia will shoot them down, bomb their sites and retaliate against the United States, The Hill reported.
Ukraine President Volodymir Zelensky said on X that Russia “continues its aerial terror against our cities and communities, intensifying strikes on our energy infrastructure. The immorality of these crimes is such that every day Russians kill our people. Yesterday in Kostiantynivka, a child was killed in a church by an aerial bomb. In total, just this week alone, more than 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and around 1,360 glide bombs have been used against Ukraine.”
Zelensky and Trump spoke on Sunday for 40 minutes, discussing Ukraine’s weapons, supply status and the energy sector ahead of Ukraine’s harsh winter, Axios reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials were on the call.
“We agreed on a set of topics to discuss today, and we covered all the aspects of the situation: defense of life in our country, strengthening our capabilities — in air defense, resilience, and long-range capabilities. We also discussed many details related to the energy sector. President Trump is well informed about everything that is happening,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Trump said he had “sort of made a decision” to sell Tomahawks to NATO countries, which would then be sent to Ukraine, Axios reported.
Putin said on Sunday that sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would be a “completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation,” Axios reported.
Tomahawk missiles are subsonic cruise missiles that can precisely hit targets 1,000 miles away, even in heavily defended airspace, according to manufacturer Raytheon. They can be fired from land or ships and can have conventional or nuclear warheads. They cost an average of $1.3 million each.
The latest version, called the Block IV Tactical Tomahawk or TACTOM, has a data link that allows it to switch targets while in flight. It can loiter for hours and change course instantly on command, Raytheon said.