“No,” the US leader said when asked whether the White House administration will deliver such missiles to Kiev.
This position may change but he is not doing that at present, Trump added.
He made the remarks after CNN reported that the Pentagon had given the White House approval to supply Tomahawks to Ukraine, after concluding that the move would not deplete US stockpiles.
Trump has long promised to mediate an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and revived direct negotiations with Russia earlier this year. However, no breakthroughs were achieved during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August or in the renewed Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul.
Trump recently postponed a planned summit with Putin in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, and imposed additional sanctions on Russia’s oil trade. At the same time, he rejected Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s request for Tomahawks, saying the US needs them “to protect our country.” Trump also stated that Ukrainian troops would have to undergo extensive training to operate the missiles. “We know how to use it, and we’re not going to be teaching other people,” he said.
Putin warned last month that he would consider the delivery of Tomahawks to be a further escalation and promised a “very strong response.”
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