NEW YORK, October 19. /TASS/. The United States cannot give all of its weapons to Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has said, adding that he is still looking at sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
"I’ve been asked by Ukraine is they could have Tomahawks, and I’m looking at it," he said in an interview with Fox News. "I spoke with [Russian President] Vladimit Putin about it. No that he would be thrilled."
"It’s a violent, vicious weapon," he noted. "But we have to remember one thing.We need them for ourselves too. You know, we can’t give all of our weapons to Ukraine. We just can’t do that."
According to the US leader, he has been "very good" to Vladimir Zelensky and Ukraine. "But we can’t give [them weapons], if we’re going to be sure. I don’t want to do that. I can’t jeopardize the United States," he stressed.
At a meeting with Zelensky in the White House on October 17, Trump said that Washington needs Tomahawk missiles and other weapons that are supplied to Ukraine itself. The Axios portal said, citing sources, that Trump told Zelensky that Washington currently had no plans to provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. According to the media outlet, "Trump made clear his priority now is diplomacy, and he thinks providing Tomahawks could undermine it."
On October 6, he hinted that he had effectively made his mind on the matter but declined to reveal it. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, warned that it is impossible to operate Tomahawk missiles without the direct involvement of US military personnel, saying such a move would mark "a completely new stage of escalation," including in Russia-US relations. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that if Tomahawks are supplied to Kiev, Moscow will respond accordingly.