WASHINGTON, October 17. /TASS/. Potential transfer of American Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine could lead to a conflict between the United States and Russia, Eldar Mamedov, an international politics expert, wrote in a column he contributed to The American Conservative magazine.

"As Zelensky arrives in Washington, the push for Tomahawks represents the culmination of a failed policy. It is not a path to peace, but the next logical step toward the US-Russia conflict long desired by the hawks. For American interests, the question is not whether Ukraine can hit Moscow, but why the United States should edge toward nuclear war in a conflict that does not threaten its sovereignty. A true America First policy would reject this escalation, prioritize diplomacy, and end the dangerous fantasy that U.S. security is advanced by becoming a direct participant in a devastating European war," Mamedov, a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science & World Affairs and Non-stocks of Tomahawks Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, believes.

In his opinion, the supply of Tomahawks will not necessarily change the dynamics on the battlefield, where Russia is "slowly but steadily advancing." Mamedov said that the use of these cruise missiles "be wholly dependent on US intelligence, targeting, and technical support." Such a situation, he continued, "would mark a definitive step toward direct U.S.-Russian confrontation." The column notes, "the US stockpile of Tomahawks is not infinite — Defense Priorities’ Jennifer Kavanagh estimates there are fewer than 4,000 missiles. She doubts the US 'would be willing to share the weapon and its sensitive technology with the Ukrainians, especially with the risk that the missile or its remnants might fall into Russian hands.'"

A diplomatic lever?

In general, the expert said, the issue of missile delivery "less about battlefield calculus and more about a high-stakes game of nuclear poker that risks core American security interests for a non-ally." Mamedov believes that the Washington administration sees the transfer of missiles as a diplomatic lever designed to reach an agreement on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump plans to receive Vladimir Zelensky at the White House. He previously said that Zelensky would ask him for Tomahawks. Russian leader Vladimir Putin stressed that it was impossible to use Tomahawk without the direct participation of American military personnel, and warned that "this would mean an absolutely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States." Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that in case of Tomahawk deliveries to Kiev, an adequate response from Moscow will be required.