US President Donald Trump, shortly after speaking with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, said that his country has a lot of Tomahawk missiles, but they also need them.
Trump said this at a press conference at the White House.
"We also need Tomahawks for the United States of America. We have a lot of them, but we need them. We canʼt exhaust our country. They are very important, very powerful, very accurate, very good. But we also need them. So I donʼt know what we can do here," he noted.
Trump also answered in the affirmative when asked by reporters whether Putin tried to stop him from selling Tomahawks to Ukraine.
"Of course, what do you think? What if he says, ʼPlease sell these Tomahawks, Iʼd be very grateful to youʼ?" he said.
At the press conference, journalists also asked about the preparation of sanctions against Russia. On October 16, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a comment to Politico that it was time for US lawmakers to move forward with a bill on sanctions against Russia.
When Trump was asked about the project, he said that Thune did not yet know about the call to Putin and that he would tell the Republican leader about it.
"We want peace. We want to stop the killing. So Iʼm going to talk to him (John Thune) and Speaker Mike Johnson. Iʼll talk to them a little later and tell them about it. And weʼll make the right decision. Iʼm not against anything. Iʼm just saying this might not be the ideal time [for sanctions]," the US president added.
Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine
The issue of transferring Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine has been actively discussed since July. At that time, The Washington Post, citing sources, wrote that Trump was considering such an option.
On September 26, the WSJ reported that during a meeting at the UN General Assembly, President Volodymyr Zelensky personally asked Trump to provide these missiles. A few days later, US Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed that the United States was discussing the transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, but the final decision remained with the US president.
At the same time, Reuters wrote that the Trump administration is unlikely to be able to transfer long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, as existing stocks are already used for the US Navy and other needs.
On October 7, Donald Trump said that "in a sense" he had already made a decision to transfer Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. And on October 12, after the second conversation with the US leader in two days, Zelensky noted that "Russia is afraid that the Americans might give us Tomahawks.”
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