Russian presidential aide Yuriy Ushakov has said that during the conversation between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the issue of possible deliveries of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine was discussed.
According to him, during the nearly two-hour conversation, special emphasis was placed on the “Ukrainian crisis” (as Russia calls the war against Ukraine), and Putin expressed Moscow’s interest in reaching a peaceful political and diplomatic settlement.
Ushakov said that during the conversation, Putin repeated his thesis that Tomahawk missiles would not change the situation on the battlefield, but that relations between the US and Russia would be “significantly damaged, not to mention the settlement (of the war).”
US President Donald Trump described as “very productive” the nearly two-hour phone conversation he had with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on 16 October. Following it, he announced an agreement on a high-level meeting of the countries’ advisers to be held next week. He also announced a meeting with Putin in Budapest.
This conversation took place on the eve of Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, which is expected to discuss the possibility of Ukraine receiving long-range Tomahawk missiles.
On 7 October, Trump confirmed that he did not rule out supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles if Russia does not stop its war against Ukraine. At the same time, he noted that he initially intended to discuss this issue with Russia.
Prior to this, Putin said on 2 October that the delivery of US Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine would lead to a “completely new level of escalation”, particularly in relations between Moscow and Washington. Putin also downplayed the significance of the missiles, calling them” not quite state-of-the-art,” and noted that providing these missiles to Ukraine “will not change the balance of power on the battlefield.”
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) that are actively used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 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.