U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that he has “sort of” made a decision on whether to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump stated, “Yeah, I’ve sort of made a decision, yeah, pretty much... I think I want to find out what they are doing with them—where they are sending them. I guess I’d have to ask that question... I’m not looking to see escalation. That war should never have started.”
Ukraine has pressed Washington to provide Tomahawks since early this year, shortly after Trump assumed office. On July 4th, during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump reportedly asked whether Ukraine had the capability to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Last week, Trump’s Envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed that the administration was reviewing Kyiv’s request. The review followed Trump’s unexpected declaration at the UN General Assembly that he now believed Ukraine could win the war — a marked shift from his earlier position calling for immediate peace negotiations.
Moscow has long warned that the delivery of Tomahawk missiles — which have a range of up to 1,500 miles (2,500 km) — would be considered a red line. The missiles are classified as strategic weapons and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, one of the factors that Russia has cited as justification for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, claiming it sought to prevent NATO’s expansion and the stationing of such weapons near its borders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned that any U.S. decision to arm Ukraine with Tomahawks would prompt an “appropriate” response, suggesting it could undermine the recent improvement in U.S.-Russia relations following Trump’s return to the White House.
If Trump decides to move forward, it would contradict his earlier stance. In December 2024, as president-elect, Trump said he “disagreed very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia,” criticizing the Biden administration’s authorization of long-range strikes as “stupid.”russ