Putin wants to disrupt the transfer of Tomahawk missiles: what is known

The Kremlin is trying to scare Washington away from transferring Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, presenting it as a “dangerous escalation” and trying to influence the West’s position.

This is stated in an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts emphasize that Moscow traditionally uses similar tactics when the United States or its allies discuss providing Ukraine with modern weapons.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 29 that Russia wants to know “who exactly will launch Tomahawks at Russia – Ukrainian or American military, and who will conduct these strikes.” He also claimed that these missiles “will not change the dynamics of the battlefield.”

Alexei Zhuravlev, the first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defense, said that the Tomahawk delivery “will be a new stage of the war in which the United States will become a direct participant.” According to him, Moscow could respond by deploying its Oreshnik ballistic missiles closer to the United States, “perhaps in Venezuela.”

In turn, the head of the Federation Council Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexei Pushkov, called the likely US decision “dangerous provocations” that “will directly drag Washington into war.”

ISW concludes that the Kremlin reacted in a similar way to discussions about providing Ukraine with ATACMS, HIMARS, F-16s, or Abrams tanks. At that time, Moscow also tried to pressure the West to thwart these decisions.

Earlier, US Special Representative Keith Kellogg explained that his comments on the possible provision of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine did not reflect internal decisions in Washington . He emphasized that he was only quoting public statements, while the final word belongs to US President Donald Trump.

According to the WSJ, the Trump administration is considering providing Ukraine with not only Tomahawks , but also other long-range weapons. However, there has been no official comment from Washington on this issue yet.

Meanwhile, Moscow has responded to claims about possible supplies of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine . Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is “analyzing the situation” after the words of US President’s special representative Keith Kellogg.