The Pentagon has given the "green light" to the White House to provide Ukraine with long-range "Tomahawk" missiles, after determining that this would not negatively affect American stockpiles. The final political decision is in the hands of President Donald Trump.
This is reported by CNN, citing its sources.
Earlier this month, during a working lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump said that he would prefer not to provide the missiles to Ukraine because "we don't want to give up things that we need to defend our country".
The Joint Chiefs of Staff briefed the White House on its assessment earlier this month, just before Trump met with Zelensky, who has insisted that the missiles be more effectively targeted at oil and energy facilities deep inside Russia.
The assessment has encouraged the United States' European allies, who believe the United States now has fewer excuses not to provide the missiles, two European officials said. Trump also said just days before his meeting with Zelensky that the US had "a lot of "Tomahawks" that it could potentially give to Ukraine.
American and European officials were surprised when Trump dramatically changed his tone days later, saying during his opening remarks at a White House working lunch with Zelensky that the US "needs "Tomahawks". He then told Zelensky behind closed doors that the US would not provide them — at least not for now.
Trump's decision came a day after he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who told Trump that the Tomahawks, which can hit major Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, would not have a significant impact on the battlefield but would damage U.S.-Russia relations, CNN reported.
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
In recent weeks, Trump has also been so frustrated by Putin's reluctance to seriously consider peace talks that he last week approved new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies and canceled — for now — a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest to discuss Ukraine.
In an X post earlier this week, Zelensky said Ukraine hopes to expand its long-range capabilities by the end of this year so the war can end. "on fair terms" for the country.
"Global sanctions and our precision strikes are virtually synchronized to end this war on fair terms for Ukraine," he wrote.