Trump downplays prospects of supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine as he tilts towards Russia again

During a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump downplayed the prospects of supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv in its war against Russia. At the White House meeting between the two leaders, Trump seemed more intent on brokering a peace deal than on supplying the missile system.

While the American president did not rule out providing the long-range missiles to Zelenskyy, he went on to exclaim that the United States may need them in “future conflicts”. He appeared to be cool on the matter and said he is looking forward to his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Hungary, The Guardian reported.

After holding over two-hour-long talks with Zelenskyy, Trump urged Ukraine and Russia to “stop the war immediately”, even if it means Ukraine conceding territory. “You stop at the battle line, and both sides should go home, go to their families,” Trump told reporters on his way to his home in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Stop the killing. And that should be it. Stop right now at the battle line. I told that to President Zelenskyy. I told it to President Putin.”

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Zelenskyy remain adamant with this Tomahawk demand

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy was frank, telling Trump that Ukraine has thousands of drones ready for an offensive against Russian targets, but needs American missiles. “We don’t have Tomahawks, that’s why we need Tomahawks,” he said. Trump responded: “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks.”

Trump went on to reiterate that he wants the United States to hold on to its weaponry. “We want Tomahawks, also. We don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country,” he said. It is pertinent to note that Trump’s dodgy tone over the matter came after his surprise call with Putin on Friday.

During the phone call, the Russian leader told Trump that supplying the Tomahawks to Ukraine would damage US-Russian relations. Ever since returning to the office, Trump’s position on providing Ukraine with weapons has changed several times, and the change often came after negotiations with Putin or European backers of Ukraine.

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During the latest White House meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump also discussed plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Putin in Hungary, saying it was “to be determined” whether Zelenskyy would join but that he would inform him of the discussions. “There is a lot of bad blood,” Trump said.

After his meeting, Trump took to social media to issue a stern call to “stop the killing, and make a DEAL!”. “They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” Trump posted on Truth Social. Zelenskyy, on the other hand, told reporters that he did not want to talk about long-range missiles, saying the US did not wish to escalate, and he was “realistic” about his chance of getting them.

The Ukrainian leader went on to speak to his European allies on the phone, during which he said that he was counting on Trump to pressure Putin “to stop this war”.