Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine ‘unlikely’ – Reuters
The US is unlikely to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine despite having a large stockpile of the weapons, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sunday that Washington is considering a Ukrainian request for Tomahawks, adding that President Donald Trump would make the “final determination.” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky reportedly asked Trump for the missiles at a behind-closed-doors meeting, portraying the request as a way to expedite the end of the conflict with Russia.
However, the Trump administration’s interest in providing Tomahawks – which have a range of 2,500km and cost an estimated $1.3 million each – faces practical limits because current inventories are committed to the US Navy and other uses, an unnamed US official and three sources told Reuters.
The official emphasized there is no shortage of the weapon itself, which US forces often use for land-attack missions, but noted priorities elsewhere. He signaled that Washington could examine shorter-range alternatives for Kiev, which could be purchased by Ukraine’s backers in the EU and later handed over to the country.
Speaking at the Valdai forum on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that possible US supplies of Tomahawks to Ukraine would represent a serious escalation – noting that their operation would be “impossible” without the “direct participation of American military personnel” – but said they would not change Kiev’s battlefield fortunes.
“The deliveries American Tomahawk cruise missiles will not change the balance of power on the battlefield, but the possible use of such weapons by Ukraine would damage relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin stated, adding that Russia already “sees the light at the end of the tunnel” when it comes to restoring ties.
Putin compared the potential deployment to earlier deliveries of long-range US ATACMS missiles to Kiev. “There were ATACMS, and what? Yes, they caused some damage, but in the end, Russia’s air defense systems adapted. Can Tomahawks cause damage? Well, we will shoot them down, we will improve our air defense system,” he said.
