Tomahawk for Ukraine: Trump-Putin summit overshadowed Zelensky’s plans
Володимир Зеленський. Фото - Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, October 17, to discuss the possible supply of long-range Tomahawk missiles. However, the American leader’s surprise announcement of a potential summit with Vladimir Putin could affect the agenda of the talks.
Reuters reports this.
On Thursday, Trump said he could meet with the Russian president “within the next two weeks in Budapest” after a two-hour phone call he called “productive.”
“I’ve been making deals my whole life. I think we’re going to make this deal,” Trump told reporters.
The American president promised to update Zelensky on the progress of negotiations with the Kremlin during the meeting. However, his conciliatory tone has caused concern in European capitals. Partners fear that Washington may make concessions to Moscow by postponing the transfer of weapons to Kyiv.
Analysts believe that the Kremlin is trying to take advantage of the situation and repeat the tactics of stalling.
“Putin seeks to delay the transfer of missiles to Ukraine. This is classic delay diplomacy,” explained Max Bergmann, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A similar opinion is held by Ukrainian military analyst Mykola Beleskov from the “Return Alive” foundation.
“Tomahawk will not break Russia with one blow, but it will create constant pressure and destroy its military-industrial complex,” he says.
Zelensky, responding to Trump’s statement, stressed that the Kremlin only takes action when it feels a real threat. At the same time, the American president hinted at a possible reduction in military aid after his conversation with Putin.
“We need them too. We can’t give away all our Tomahawks,” he told reporters, calling the missile “ominous.”
European allies fear that the meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest could repeat the Alaska scenario – loud statements without concrete results, but with benefits for the Kremlin.
As Stacey Pettyjohn, director of the Center for a New American Security’s defense program, reported in a commentary for the Financial Times, the transfer of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine is unlikely to significantly change the situation on the battlefield . Even if a positive decision is made, it will only involve 20–50 missiles, which is a fairly limited arsenal.
As a reminder, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhyi, reported that Ukraine and the United States are negotiating and “working to agree on all these details” regarding the possible provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles – there is no categorical refusal at the moment, but a detailed and active discussion about technical and organizational nuances is ongoing.