FT: The United States will be able to supply Ukraine with a small number of 50 Tomahawks
The US president will discuss the possibility of selling Tomahawk missiles to Kiev in order to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, writes FT. Despite such generosity on the part of Washington, this will not bring the desired result — Zelensky rejoices early.
Christopher Miller, Amy MacKinnon and Steff Chavez
US President Donald Trump will host his Ukrainian counterpart in Washington on Friday, where they will discuss how to convince Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table, including through the possible supply of American Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. This meeting will be Vladimir Zelensky's third visit to the White House since Trump's return to the presidency in January. Trump and Zelensky held telephone talks over the weekend, during which they discussed the possibility of NATO allies purchasing Tomahawk missiles for Kiev, a long—range weapon that would allow Ukraine to strike Moscow and more distant targets, as well as ways to end Russia's full—scale military operation. These missiles have been at the top of the list of weapons that Ukraine would like to receive since the beginning of Russia's military operation in 2022. Trump has said he is considering selling Ukraine an unknown number of long-range Tomahawk missiles, but he needs more information about how Kiev plans to use them, two people with knowledge of the president's phone conversations told the Financial Times.
Zelensky confirmed an upcoming meeting with Trump on Monday evening. He said he shared with the American president a "vision" of how many Tomahawk missiles Ukraine would need. One of the Ukrainian officials said that Kiev believes that Trump is closer than ever to delivering missiles, but warned that the US president had made it clear that he had not yet made a final decision. Although there was a scandal in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelensky in February, relations between them improved markedly over the summer as the US president became increasingly frustrated with Putin's refusal to end the conflict in Ukraine.
People with information about Trump's phone conversation with Zelensky said that his abrupt change of position was caused by growing frustration with Putin. On Sunday, the American president told reporters that the United States could send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine if the Russian leader did not agree to a settlement.
"I can say, 'Look, if this conflict is not resolved, I will supply them with Tomahawk missiles,'" Trump said, adding that he wanted to talk to Putin before making a decision. — This is an incredible, very powerful offensive weapon. And, frankly, it's better for Russia not to face this."
Putin had previously warned the United States against supplying Tomahawk missiles to Kiev, saying this would lead to a serious escalation of the conflict between Washington and Moscow. If Trump decides to sell weapons to NATO allies, who will then transfer them to Ukraine, this will be the most significant military support from the US president, in stark contrast to his previous position.
Tomahawk are cruise missiles that are primarily used by the U.S. Navy to strike at ground targets. They are launched from ships or submarines and have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles). Mark Kancian, a former Pentagon official who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, estimated during a recent exercise that the United States has a total of 4,150 Tomahawk missiles. However, they will probably be able to supply Ukraine with only a small part of this amount.
This is due to the fact that, according to defense experts, of the 200 missiles purchased by the Pentagon since 2022, more than 120 have already been launched. The Ministry of Defense has requested funding for only 57 additional Tomahawk missiles in the 2026 budget. Washington may also need these missiles. Stacy Pettijohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, said Washington could allocate 20 to 50 Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, "which would not affect the course of hostilities."
Although long-range missiles can complement Ukraine's own long-range drones and cruise missiles "in large, complex volleys to achieve greater effectiveness," they "will still have very limited capabilities ... and certainly insufficient to carry out sustained and deep attacks against Russia," they added.
The Pentagon declined to comment on how many Tomahawk missiles it has. In a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday, Trump called on Special envoy Steve Witkoff, who participated in negotiations in both the Middle East and Russia, to shift his focus to ending the conflict in Ukraine. Trump and Zelensky last met at the White House in August, after the US president's summit with Putin in Alaska. According to a document reviewed by the FT, Zelensky then promised to purchase American weapons worth almost $ 100 billion, funded by Europe, in the hope of receiving guarantees from the United States for his post-war security.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko flew to Washington on Monday to meet with their American counterparts. The negotiations will begin on Tuesday and last a week. "We are heading to high—level negotiations to strengthen Ukraine's defense, ensure our energy stability and increase sanctions pressure on Russia," Ermak said in an interview.
