{"id":75519,"date":"2025-10-13T11:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T11:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/75519\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T11:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T11:12:07","slug":"step-up-trump-puts-tomahawks-on-table-as-ultimatum-to-moscow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/75519\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Step Up\u2019 \u2013 Trump Puts Tomahawks on Table as Ultimatum to Moscow"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON DC \u2013 US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Moscow on Sunday, suggesting he would arm Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles if Russia does not move quickly to settle the ongoing war.<\/p>\n

The high-stakes threat, delivered to reporters as Trump flew to the Middle East, marks a potential dramatic escalation of US military aid to Kyiv and comes after a morning phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/p>\n

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM<\/p>\n

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might say [to Putin], \u2018Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I\u2019m going to send them Tomahawks,\u2019\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need [to see] that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump added that while a final decision has not been made, raising the possibility was \u201cappropriate.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI might tell [Russia] that if the war is not settled… we may do it. I think it\u2019s appropriate to bring up,\u201d Trump concluded.<\/p>\n

Zelensky pleads for \u201clong-distance capabilities\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s comments follow weeks of direct pleas from President Zelensky for the advanced long-range firepower, which can precisely strike targets over 1,500 miles away.<\/p>\n

Kyiv argues that the Tomahawk \u2013 a \u201cstep up\u201d in capability, as Trump himself described it \u2013 would enable strikes deep into Russian territory, forcing Moscow to pull back air defense systems and making Ukrainian strikes more effective.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Topics of Interest<\/p>\n

The Imperial Test for the Russian Opposition<\/a><\/p>\n

Many in the West long for a viable democratic alternative to the Putin regime. But the Chechen question remains a litmus test of genuine democratic maturity of the Russian opposition.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Fox News\u2019 \u201cThe Sunday Briefing,\u201d Zelensky reiterated his need for both \u201creal air defense\u201d and \u201clong weapons, long-distance capabilities.\u201d He stated that any Tomahawk employment would be strictly limited to military targets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only military goals,\u201d the Ukrainian leader said. \u201cEven with all this pain of losses\u2026 we never attack their civilians. This is the big difference between Ukraine and Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kremlin voices \u201cextreme concern\u201d <\/p>\n

The prospect of Tomahawk delivery has generated \u201cextreme concern\u201d in Moscow. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told local media, \u201cThe topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern. Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russian lawmakers have also reportedly warned of potential retaliation against the US in response to such a move.<\/p>\n

The potential delivery of the BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile represents one of the most significant and risk-laden choices in American support for Ukraine, as it escalates the tension over striking assets inside Russia.<\/p>\n

Trump undecided amid escalation fears <\/p>\n

While floating the threat as a potential pressure tactic against the Kremlin, Trump expressed caution, noting his own reservations about escalating the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I want to find out what they\u2019re doing with them,\u201d Trump told reporters last week, referencing the Tomahawk missiles. \u201cWhere are they sending them? I guess I\u2019d have to ask that question. I\u2019m not looking to escalate that war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the White House\u2019s hesitation, the discussion of Tomahawks comes as Ukraine faces intensified Russian aerial attacks targeting its energy infrastructure, a campaign Kyiv calls \u201caerial terror\u201d aimed at crippling the country before winter.<\/p>\n

The two leaders\u2019 phone calls over the weekend also focused on securing more air defenses and \u201cdetails related to the energy sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump also told reporters on Sunday that he gives Ukraine \u201ccredit for doing so well\u201d on the battlefield. \u201cI mean… they\u2019re very good fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n

A senior Ukrainian delegation is scheduled to visit Washington in the coming days, with the topic of long-range precision strike weapons expected to top the agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON DC \u2013 US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Moscow on Sunday, suggesting he would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-75519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}