Answering questions about a telephone conversation with the illegitimate president of the aggressor country of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Trump said that Tomahawks are needed “for the United States itself.”
“We have a lot of them, but we need them. We cannot reduce the supply of them for our country. So, you know, they are very important. They are very powerful. They are very accurate. They are very good, but we need them too,” he said.
Trump claims that Putin “certainly tried” to dissuade him from the possible sale of Tomahawks to NATO, which could transfer them to Ukraine for protection against Russian aggression.
“Of course, what do you think? What will he say: “Please sell [Украине] these missiles, I would be very grateful,” Trump told reporters.
He recounted another part of the dialogue that he said he had with Putin.
“Would you mind if I gave a couple thousand Tomahawks to your opponent?” – the head of the White House allegedly asked.
According to Trump, the head of the Kremlin “didn’t like this idea.”
Context
On October 16, the Russian Federation initiated a conversation between Putin and Trump, the Kremlin reported. They, among other things, discussed “the issues of possible supplies of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.” Putin believes that Tomahawks “will not change the situation on the battlefield,” but their supplies to Ukraine will cause “significant damage” to relations between the Russian Federation and the United States, “not to mention the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” said assistant to the illegitimate Russian president Yuri Ushakov.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky discussed the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine, as well as their quantity, with Trump during two conversations on October 11 and 12. At their personal meeting, announced for October 17 in Washington, Tomahawk will probably also become one of the topics of negotiations, American media wrote.
If the United States makes a decision that is positive for Kyiv, Ukraine could receive from 20 to 50 units of such weapons, the Financial Times reported.
