President Trump on Wednesday appeared to rule out providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles, arguing that the long-range weapons are too complex for Kyiv to deploy without substantial US training.
“The problem with the Tomahawk is – a lot of people don’t know – It’ll take a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it,” the president added.
“And we’re not going to do that.”
Trump added there is a “tremendous learning curve” when it comes to using the “highly complex” weapons, and he signaled that he wouldn’t want the US military to train other nations on how to effectively fire the “very accurate” missiles.
“It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it, and we know how to use it, and we’re not going to be teaching other people.”
With a range of more than 1,500 miles, Tomahawk missiles would enable Ukraine to hit critical military, logistical and energy targets deep inside Russia, severely limiting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to continue the 32-month-long war.
The US has more than 1,000 Tomahawks available, though some experts believe Washington wouldn’t sell more than 50 to Ukraine, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly lobbied Trump for access to the missiles, but returned to Kyiv empty-handed after a White House meeting Oct. 17.
Trump’s interest in providing Ukraine with Tomahawks faded rapidly after a call with Putin the day before his meeting with Zelensky.
Earlier this week, Zelensky argued that US-provided Tomahawks should be viewed as a “major investment in diplomacy,” arguing that Putin’s willingness to end the war fizzled out after it became clear that Trump would not be offering the weapon to Ukraine in the immediate future.
“The frontline can spark diplomacy. Instead, Russia continues to do everything to weasel out: as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for Ukraine became less immediate, their interest in diplomacy faded,” Zelensky wrote on X Tuesday.
“This signals that deep strike capabilities may hold the key to peace.”
Asked whether he “still believes Putin wants to end the war,” Trump said that the belligerent leaders “both want peace” after “almost four years” of bloodshed.
“I always felt he wanted the full thing, not a piece of it,” the president also said of Putin’s long-held ambition to annex Ukraine. “But I think now he’s willing to negotiate a little bit further. And I think he’s willing to make a deal. We’ll see. We don’t want him to have the whole thing.”
