“I would go all the way if Putin says no.” An influential voice from the Trump camp pleads for sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine

Washington should dramatically increase pressure on Moscow, including by supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles, if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to accept a negotiated solution to the conflict, US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday.

“If (Putin) refuses this time, here's what I hope President (Donald) Trump will do: Sign my bill, which has 85 cosponsors, and impose tariffs on countries like China that buy cheap Russian oil. Declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for the kidnapping of 20,000 Ukrainian children. And, most importantly, seize ships carrying sanctioned Russian oil, as it does in Venezuela,” Graham said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

“If Putin says no, we have to radically change the game, including by providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to hit the drone and missile factories that exist in Russia. I would go all the way if Putin says no,” added the Republican senator, quoted by The Kyiv Independent.

Graham argued that current diplomatic efforts risked allowing Moscow to make additional gains under the guise of negotiations. “We continue to engage Russia (in talks, no) … and he (Putin, no) rejects all our efforts,” the US senator said, adding that Putin “will continue to take Donbas by force until we increase the pressure.”

The comments by Graham, considered one of the most influential Republican senators, come as Ukrainian and US officials concluded a new round of talks in Florida on Sunday, December 21, as part of Washington's efforts to finalize a peace deal.

The meeting followed Ukraine-US talks on December 19 and US-Russia talks on December 20 in Miami.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, who led the delegation from Kyiv, said that the talks with the US and European representatives were constructive.

“Over the past three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation had a series of productive and constructive meetings with American and European partners. … Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and lasting peace,” Umerov wrote in a message posted online.

Discussions focused on a revised 20-point peace plan, possible security guarantees for Ukraine and long-term economic development measures. “Our approach is that everything must be feasible – every measure crucial for peace, security and reconstruction,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a separate statement after Umerov briefed him on the Florida talks.

Graham's claims on Sunday could reignite a debate that resurfaced earlier this fall. On November 2, US President Donald Trump said he did not intend to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, telling reporters: “No, not really…things may change, but at this point I don't intend to.”

The Pentagon has indicated that it has sufficient stockpiles in case a political decision is made on the transfer of these weapons. The Tomahawk missiles, capable of hitting targets 1,600 to 2,500 kilometers away, would allow Ukraine to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory — a step that, Putin warned, would mark “a qualitatively new stage of escalation” in the war.