WASHINGTON, October 23. /TASS/. President Donald Trump said the United States is not going to fire Tomahawk missiles, while learning how to use them would take six to 12 months.
"The problem with the Tomahawk [is] that, a lot of people don't know, it'll take a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use them. They're highly complex. So, the only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it, and we’re not going to do that," Trump told reporters in the White House after talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
The US leader emphasized that what he called a `tremendous learning curve’ will require years of intense training. "We know how to use it, and we're not going to be teaching other people," he added.
On October 17, during a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in the White House, Trump stated that Washington itself requires Tomahawk missiles and other weapons Kiev would like to have. According to Axios, citing sources, Trump told Zelensky that the United States currently has no intention of providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Trump reportedly emphasized that his current priority is diplomacy, and that supplying such missiles could undermine efforts in that regard.
Earlier, on October 6, Trump announced that he had essentially reached a decision regarding the potential transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, though he did not disclose the specifics of that decision. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by warning that the use of Tomahawk missiles without the direct involvement of American military personnel would be impossible and cautioned that such a move would mark a "completely new, qualitatively different stage of escalation," affecting Russia-US relations. Additionally, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned that if Tomahawk missiles are supplied to Kiev, Moscow would need to respond appropriately.