US President Donald Trump revealed that he and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed the sale of “Tomahawk“ missiles to Kiev. According to the US president, Putin was not happy with the idea.
Trump responded sarcastically to a request to clarify whether Putin had convinced him not to transfer “Tomahawk“ missiles to Kiev. "Do you think he would say, 'Please sell them Tomahawks?'" Trump asked the reporter who asked him the question.
"I actually said, 'Would you mind if I gave a couple thousand Tomahawks to the other side?'" I told him. That's exactly what I said," Trump said. He explained that he had deliberately meant to raise the issue in a "slightly humorous" way. "Do you think he would say, 'I'd like to see Tomahawks flying at me?'" Trump added. He called the cruise missiles "incredibly destructive weapons." "Nobody wants to see Tomahawks fired at them," the US president said.
Trump plans to meet Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on October 17. The US leader had earlier announced that Zelensky would ask him on October 17 to deliver Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. On October 12, the US president said that he would probably discuss the issue with Putin before making a final decision on the possible transfer of these missiles to Kiev. On October 6, Trump signaled that he had effectively made a decision regarding Tomahawks and Ukraine, but did not explain what that decision was.
Putin stressed that the use of Tomahawks without the direct participation of the American military is impossible and warned that “this would mean a qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States“. As noted by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, if “Tomahawk“ are delivered to Kiev, an adequate response from Moscow will be required.