US PRESIDENT Trump said he could give Ukraine Tomahawk missiles to pressure Russia to end the war.
In a sign he is fed up with Moscow dragging its feet over peace talks, Trump said: “I might say, ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks’.”
Trump suggested sending Tomahawk missiles to UkraineReuters
Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500km and weigh almost half a tonAFP
Trump hailed Tomahawk missiles – which he used to blitz Iran in June – as “incredible” offensive weapons.
They have a maximum range of 2,500 km with warheads that weight almost half a ton.
The missiles are normally launched from ships and submarines but can also be launched from land.
Tomahawks are designed to fly below radars and could hit thousands of Russian military targets as far away as Siberia, including 76 key airfields and a Shahed drone factory in Tatarstan.
Trump acknowledged the move would be “new step of aggression”.
Speaking on Air Force One as he flew to Israel he said: “Honestly, Russia does not need that…Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so.”
He suggested he would raise it with Moscow, adding: “I might tell them that if the war is not settled — that we may very well.
“We may not, but we may do it. I think it’s appropriate to bring up.”
It follows reports that America has been helping Ukraine blitz Russia’s oil infrastructure.
Ukraine has hit 21 of Russia’s 38 oil refineries this year, hammering Kremlin production and sending fuel prices soaring.
Vital US intel lets Kyiv pick routes and times to best evade Russia’s air defences and cause maximum destruction, sources told the Financial Times.
The latest pre-dawn strike hit Crimea’s largest oil depot on Monday.
At least five oil tanks were engulfed in flames in the second strike at Feodosia in a week.
The Berlin-based Carnegie think tank said: “Russia’s oil refineries are a bit like a man who is being repeatedly punched.
“Although no single punch is fatal, he could end up being beaten to death.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said his most recent phone call with Trump was “very productive”.
He said: “We discussed possibilities to strengthen our air defense and the agreements we are preparing regarding this. There are good options, strong ideas on how to really strengthen us.”
US Vice President JD Vance first revealed that America was considering sending Tomahawks to Ukraine late last month.
Ukraine has a proven track record of convening allies to give it weapons it wants, including F-16 jets, Patriot air defence systems and main battle tanks.
he missiles are normally launched from ships and submarinesHandout – Getty
Chilling threat
But Trump’s words have triggered an enraged and deeply personal response from Moscow.
Putin crony and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev lashed out at the US leader, mocking him as a “star-spangled uncle” and warning the Tomahawk plan “could end badly for everyone – and first of all, for Trump himself.”
Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, claimed on Telegram that Moscow could not tell the difference between conventional and nuclear Tomahawks once they were launched.
“It has been said a hundred times in a way even understandable to the star-spangled uncle that it is impossible to distinguish nuclear Tomahawks from conventional ones in flight,” he said.
“Their launch will not be carried out by….Kyiv, but by the USA,” said Medvedev, implying they will need American input into targeting and launching.
“Read: Trump. How to respond to Russia? Exactly!”
The Kremlin mouthpiece – who has repeatedly threatened nuclear escalation since the start of the war – sneered that Trump’s threat might be “another empty threat” after talks with Zelensky.
“Like sending nuclear submarines closer to Russia,” he mocked.
“Well, you know how it goes: a submarine surfaced in the steppes of Ukraine.”
It is not the first time Medvedev has traded insults with Trump.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in the outskirts of Odesa, UkraineReuters
Apartment buildings damaged by Russian strikes in Donetsk regionReuters
The US president previously branded him a “failed former president” and warned he was “treading on very dangerous ground” after Medvedev claimed Washington risked plunging the world into all-out war.
Medvedev’s latest tirade came in direct response to Trump’s Air Force One remarks, where he made clear that Tomahawks – with a range of 1,550 miles – could hit Moscow, St Petersburg and scores of strategic sites deep inside Russia.
“I might have to speak to Russia to be honest with you about Tomahawks,” Trump said.
“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”
The Kremlin says it is “seriously concerned” by Washington’s stance, warning that deploying long-range US missiles in Ukraine would “seriously damage” already fractured relations between Moscow and Washington.
Putin himself has previously hinted such a move could provoke a “strategic response” – widely interpreted as a thinly veiled threat of nuclear retaliation.
Ukraine insists Tomahawks would only be used to strike military targets, not civilians.
Zelensky told Fox News: “These missiles would be used purely for military goals.”
Kyiv argues that sustained US pressure – including the possible supply of long-range strike weapons – could be decisive in forcing Putin to the negotiating table.
Zelensky has said Moscow “fears” the Tomahawk prospect, calling it a potential “turning point” in the war.
Dmitry Medvedev (left)warned that distinguishing nuclear from conventional Tomahawks is impossibleEast2West