Zelensky: Trump holding back Tomahawks deflated Russia’s interest in diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argued on Tuesday that President Trump’s decision to refrain from sending long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine deflated Russia’s interest in engaging in diplomacy that could lead to the potential end of the war in Eastern Europe.
“The frontline can spark diplomacy. Instead, Russia continues to do everything to weasel out of diplomacy — and as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us — for Ukraine — became less immediate, Russia’s interest in diplomacy faded almost automatically,” Zelensky said during his daily video address. “This signals that this very issue — the issue of our deep strike capabilities — may hold the indispensable key to peace.”
Zelensky met with Trump in Washington on Friday in what the Ukrainian leader said was a “positive” huddle, even with failing to secure a commitment from the U.S. to send the powerful munitions, which have a range of about 1,000 miles, depending on the variant.
“It’s not easy for us to give … you’re talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” the president said on Friday, minutes ahead of his behind-closed-doors meeting with Zelensky.
“So, that’s one of the things we’ll be talking about hopefully, they won’t need it, hopefully, we’ll be able to get the war over with, without thinking about Tomahawks,” Trump added.
The missiles are built to travel at high subsonic speeds and low heights to better dodge radars, providing Ukraine with a lot more capability and range to target Russian military outposts and energy facilities deep inside the country, military experts told The Hill last week.
Zelensky emphasized the Tomahawks’ capabilities on Tuesday and added that it is the kind of weapon that Russia takes “seriously.”
“The greater Ukraine’s long-range reach, the greater Russia’s willingness to end the war. These weeks reaffirmed it. The discussion on Tomahawks turned out to be a major investment in diplomacy — we forced Russia to reveal that Tomahawks are precisely the card they take seriously,” Zelensky said.
“We will continue engaging with Europeans and Americans on long-range capabilities,” the Ukrainian leader added. “Air defense is, of course, the top priority.”
On Sunday, Zelensky shared that the U.S. and Ukraine are finalizing a long-term agreement for Kyiv to get 25 Patriot air defense systems.
Trump has continued his push to help end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been raging for about three-and-a-half years. The president said last week that he expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “within two weeks or so.”
But, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Tuesday that there are no plans for Trump to meet with Putin “in the immediate future,” after a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which the official argued was “productive.”
“Therefore, an additional-in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” the official said.