WASHINGTON, October 17. /TASS/. The US cannot deplete its own stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles by supplying them to Ukraine, President Donald Trump said.

He noted that the issue of supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine was discussed during his conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "We need Tomahawks for the US too. We have a lot of them, but we need them," he said.

"I mean, we can't deplete for our country. So, you know, they're very vital, they're very powerful, they're very accurate, they're very good, but we need them too, so I don't know what we can do about that," Trump added.

The US leader was sarcastic when asked whether the Russian president tried to dissuade him from delivering Tomahawks to Kiev.

"What do you think he's going to say? Please sell Tomahawks," Trump told the reporter. "I did actually say, Would you mind if I gave a couple of 1,000 tomahawks to your opposition? I did say that to him. I said it just that way."

He described these cruise missiles as "a vicious, offensive, incredibly destructive weapon." "Nobody wants Tomahawk shot at him,’ Trump added.

On Friday, Trump plans to receive Vladimir Zelensky in the White house. Earlier, the US leader said that Zelensky would ask him to authorize Tomahawk deliveries to his country.

Zelensky has repeatedly asked the US to increase supplies of missiles for Patriot systems and to transfer Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. The US president has stated that before making a final decision on Tomahawk missiles, he should most likely discuss it with the Russian president. On October 6, Trump announced that he had in fact made a decision on the possibility of transferring these missiles to the Ukrainian side, but did not explain what it entailed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Tomahawk missiles "cannot be used" without the direct involvement of US military personnel, warning that this would mark "a qualitatively new phase of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia would respond "accordingly" if Tomahawk missiles are supplied to Kiev.