The Kremlin has said that it is “carefully analysing” the information about the possibility of the USA transferring long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that it was important for Moscow to understand who would be involved in the process of launching the missiles: the Americans or the Ukrainians. According to him, Russia’s response to possible deliveries will be after potential threats are understood.
The day before, US Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed that Washington was considering transferring long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, a decision on this, he said, would be made by US President Donald Trump.
Subsequently, US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, on Fox News Channel, when asked by the host if Trump’s position was that Ukraine could launch long-range strikes against Russia, replied, “I think given what he said, what Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio have stated, the answer is yes. Use the ability to hit deep inside (Russia-red.). There are no protected areas.”
He also noted that Vladimir Zelensky has asked Trump to provide Tomahawk missiles, but a decision has not yet been made.
Recently, the US publication Axios, citing its own sources, wrote that US President Donald Trump refused to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, as requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to the report, during a meeting with Trump on 23 September in New York, Zelensky explained that the availability of such missiles could increase pressure on Russia and encourage President Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table, possibly even without actually using these weapons.
Axios sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed that the request was specifically for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. The use of these weapons requires appropriate launchers and infrastructure, such as vertical launchers on ships or submarines, as well as command and control and guidance facilities. In the absence of such platforms, Ukraine’s ability to directly employ the delivered missiles would be limited.
Subsequently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the topic of discussion with the United States was the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine, without specifying which types of such weapons were in question.
The Tomahawk missile, manufactured by RTX, has a range of up to 1,000 miles (more than 1,600 kilometres), far exceeding the capabilities of the US ATACMS multiple launch rocket systems (about 190 miles), which are actively used by the AFU. The Tomahawk has greater speed and combat power compared to Ukrainian drones, which are capable of striking deep into Russian territory but often clash with modern air defence systems.
Ukraine has been asking partners for long-range weapons over the past year. Kiev is also trying to develop its own long-range solutions, particularly the Palianitsa and Flamingo systems, but they do not have the same combat characteristics as the Tomahawk.