WASHINGTON, July 15. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has not encouraged Vladimir Zelensky to carry out further strikes deeper inside Russia, including on Moscow, in contrast to what the Financial Times reported, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

"President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He's working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war," she said in a statement to Newsweek. "The Financial Times is notorious for taking words wildly out of context to get clicks because their paper is dying."

The FT report

According to the FT, Trump in a conversation with Zelensky on July 4 discussed the possibility of sending additional ATACMS missiles to Ukraine and also called for more strikes deeper inside Russian territory. Sources told the newspaper, confirming other news reports, that the US president asked Zelensky about the possibility of striking Moscow in the event that Washington provided Kiev with long-range weapons. The newspaper said Trump made it clear that he supports the idea. The sources said Trump hopes the strikes will force the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table. According to the report, it remains unclear whether Trump will end up sending long-range weapons to Kiev.

The FT reported that at a conference on rebuilding Ukraine in Rome last week, the US delegation gave the Ukrainians a list of potential weapons that could be supplied to Kiev through third parties. According to the FT, the involvement of third parties would give Trump an opportunity to circumvent the Congress decision to suspend direct deliveries of US military aid, as the weapons would first be sold to European allies, who will then send them to Ukraine.

The newspaper said that the 300-kilometer range of ATACMS missiles is insufficient for them to reach as far as Moscow or St. Petersburg. According to the report, Kiev previously asked Washington for Tomahawk missiles with a range of 1,600 kilometers. However, the Trump administration has concerns that Ukraine will lack restraint in case it gets a hold of them, the FT said.

The White House did not respond to a TASS request to comment on the FT report.

On July 14, Trump said that Washington decided to continue providing weapons and other military equipment to Kiev if Europe picked up the bill for such supplies. NATO would be tasked with coordinating the deliveries. He also said that the US would impose import duties of about 100$ on Russia and its trading partners if Moscow and Washington did not reach a deal on a settlement in Ukraine within 50 days.