Trump hints at conditional green light for NATO to transfer Tomahawks to Ukraine Sources tell Axios

On October 6, US President Donald Trump said that he has “sort of made a decision” regarding the potential sale of long-range Tomahawk missiles to NATO allies, which could then be supplied to Ukraine.

The issue has drawn international attention, as Ukrainian officials argue that access to Tomahawk missiles would allow Kyiv to strike deep inside Russian territory, significantly strengthening its position against Russian forces and possibly compelling President Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations on more favourable terms.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked whether he had decided to provide the missiles. “I sort of made a decision pretty much,” he said, adding that he first wanted to understand Ukraine’s intended use of the weapons before proceeding. “Where they are sending them, I guess I will have to ask that question. I would ask some questions. I am not looking to see an escalation,” Trump noted.

According to a Ukrainian official and another source close to the Ukrainian government, who spoke to Axios, there is still uncertainty in Kyiv about what Trump’s decision entails. The same source said officials in the Trump administration have expressed concerns in recent weeks about whether the United States could maintain control over how Ukraine would use the missiles once they were purchased and transferred by NATO countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, reacting to reports about a possible Tomahawk transfer, warned on Sunday that such a move would mark a “completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation.” He stressed that Ukraine would not be able to use these missiles without direct US involvement, arguing that such participation would bring Washington and Moscow into direct confrontation and undermine any existing diplomatic progress between the two nations.

The discussion over Tomahawk missiles reportedly began last month, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the issue during his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Zelenskyy asked for the missiles, which have the range to reach targets as far as Moscow, saying that possessing such a capability could shift the strategic balance in Ukraine’s favour.

In a later interview with The Axios Show, Zelenskyy said he had requested an additional weapons system that might compel Putin to enter peace talks “perhaps without Ukraine even having to use it.” Although he did not name the system during the interview, Ukrainian officials and sources familiar with the meeting confirmed it was the Tomahawk—a precision-guided, long-range cruise missile capable of striking targets more than 1,000 kilometres away.

By Tamilla Hasanova