Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted in a video released on Wednesday that Kiev had requested the delivery of US Tomahawk missiles, expressing displeasure at the leak of a "confidential" information. Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km, far beyond the capabilities of current Ukrainian weapons. Such a delivery would almost certainly be seen by Russia as an escalation of the conflict, reports "Reuters".
Zelensky visited the United States last month, where he presented President Joe Biden with a victory plan that he said could force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. The plan includes a "non-nuclear deterrence package" to be used only if Russia does not end its aggression and continues to escalate the conflict.
Zelensky announced to journalists from the Scandinavian countries that some of the details of the plan were confidential but had already been leaked to the media. "When many countries started to support the victory plan, you see what is happening now in the media - they said that Ukraine wants a lot of missiles, like "Tomahawk" and others. But it was confidential information - between Ukraine and the White House," he commented on social networks.
According to American sources, the demand for "Tomahawk" is considered "not feasible". The United States is a major source of military aid to Ukraine, but is wary of actions that could provoke a major response from nuclear-armed Russia.