Summary
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled to meet President Donald Trump at White House.
- Meeting expected to focus on possible supply of Tomahawk missiles.
- Zelenskyy seeks increased defense support amid ongoing conflict with Russia.
Recently, the US president has made several indications that he would provide Tomahawks, giving Kyiv its longest-range weapon yet that could hit Moscow with precise, devastating warheads.
“If this war doesn’t get settled, I may send Tomahawks,”
Trump told reporters on Sunday.
“A Tomahawk is an incredible weapon. And Russia does not need that. If the war is not settled, we may do it. We may not. But we may do it.”
Up to 1,500 miles can be covered by the missile.
Trump has indicated that he is keen to build on the momentum of that diplomatic win by applying further pressure on Moscow to halt Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is currently in its fourth year, after recently mediating a peace agreement in Gaza.
Trump announced on the eve of Zelenskyy's arrival that he would meet Putin in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, on an unspecified date in an attempt to bring the war to a close.
The announcement of another Trump-Putin summit followed a phone call with the Russian president. “I believe great progress was made,” Trump said on social media of the call.
Trump has already threatened to put crushing penalties on Russia's economy and set deadlines for Moscow, only to back down. After meeting or conversing with Putin, he has often loosened his position.
Although it would be symbolic to deliver Tomahawks the concept of which has already irritated the Kremlin they are only available in comparatively modest quantities, with some experts estimating that there are between 20 and 50 missiles.
In a startling reversal from the White House dressing-down in February that had exposed the breach between the two leaders, Trump and Zelenskyy spoke on the phone twice over the weekend in what the Ukrainian president called "productive" discussions.
“He [Zelenskyy] would like to have Tomahawks,”
Trump said on Tuesday. We have a lot of Tomahawks.
Ukraine lacks the ships and submarines that are typically used to launch Tomahawks, which were first employed in war in 1991. With a range that puts Moscow well within reach and a significantly higher destructive potential than long-range drones, they are projected to cost $1.3 million (£1 million) each.
Although launchers are few, there is also a more recent land-launched version, the Typhon, that is clearly more appropriate for Ukraine. Although the X-Mav, a launcher thought to be more mobile than the Typhon, was unveiled this week, the US army is only known to possess two.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said:
“My understanding is that US doesn’t have a lot of Tomahawks. There are launchers that can launch them from the ground, but the military doesn’t have many of them.”
Pavel Luzin, an independent Russian military analyst, said:
“The Typhon system itself is new, still being produced for the US military. And it’s not just a launcher – it includes transport and reloading vehicles as well as a dedicated command post.”
The Trump administration has approved the sharing of US information in recent weeks to assist Ukraine in launching targeted strikes on Russian oil refineries with US-supplied Atacms missiles and domestically built drones. Fuel shortages and a dramatic increase in gas prices have resulted from these attacks throughout Russia.
Although the cruise missiles are typically seen to be most effective when launched in salvos, which would be challenging with limited numbers, politicians and academics think the missiles may support that strategy.
What will Zelenskyy ask Trump regarding long‑range missiles?
As he is about to meet with US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to make a very visible push for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The missiles have a maximum range of about 2,500 kilometers, which would allow Ukraine to reach and strike critical Russian military and strategic assets deep inside Russia, even near Moscow. Zelenskyy is seeing these missiles as an effective means of deterring and countering Russian aggressions more effectively by increasing the pressure on Russian military infrastructure.
Zelensky has indicated that they would not be using these missiles against anything other than Russian military targets, and that the proposed supply of Tomahawks would be significant enough of a supply to help bring an end to the war.