Trump 'not really' considering Tomahawk transfers to Ukraine, for now
Editor's note: The story was updated with additional comments.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Nov. 2 that as of now, he is not planning to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
When asked by reporters if his administration is considering sending Kyiv Tomahawks, Trump responded: "No, not really… things can change but at this moment I'm not."
His remarks come after recent reports that the Pentagon has signaled it has sufficient Tomahawk inventory if the White House were to greenlight a transfer to Ukraine.
The Tomahawk is a subsonic long-range missile capable of striking targets at a range of 1,600 to 2,500 kilometers (1,000-1600 miles). Providing the weapons would constitute a "qualitatively new stage of escalation," Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned.
Experts say these long-range weapons, if approved, would allow Ukraine to strike military targets deep inside Russia and increase pressure on Putin, giving Kyiv stronger leverage in future peace negotiations.
Later, reporters questioned what would be the "final straw" proving to Trump that Putin is not ready to end the war in Ukraine.
"There’s no final straw. Sometimes you gotta let it fight out, it’s been a tough war for Putin, he’s lost a lot of soldiers maybe a lot of million. It’s been tough on Ukraine, tough on both. Sometimes you have to let it get fought out," he said.
Trump was also asked about frozen Russian assets and whether he would use them as leverage.
"Europe and Russia are having discussions, I’m not involved in those discussions," he responded.
An estimated $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves remain frozen globally, with about two-thirds of that — roughly 185 billion euros — held by Belgium-based financial institution Euroclear.
Speaking separately to CBS News on Oct. 31, Trump said he believes economic pressure against Russia is working but noted it is a different situation than with other countries, as the U.S. does not "do very much business with Russia."
Trump previously imposed 50% tariffs on India to pressure it to reduce its Russian energy purchases, and imposed sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
Calling Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping "smart" and "very strong leaders" who are "not to be toyed with," Trump said the Russian president wants to do business with the U.S. and "make a lotta money for Russia."
Trump also commented on his recent announcement of U.S. nuclear tests, saying it was a response to similar drills announced by Moscow. The U.S. president added that "North Korea's testing constantly," and claimed China is covertly carrying out tests as well.
"I don't wanna be the only country that doesn't test."
Trump said on Oct. 30 that he had instructed the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992, days after Moscow announced its tests of a newly developed nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile.
Abbey Fenbert
