Ukraine war briefing: Moscow expresses ‘extreme concern’ over Trump’s threat to send Tomahawk missiles to kyiv | Ukraine

Donald Trump threatened to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin does not end his invasion. “I could talk to him (Putin). I could say, ‘Look, if this war doesn’t settle, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,'” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the Middle East. The US president said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the Tomahawks in a call on Saturday as they discussed a new arms supply for kyiv. “The Tomahawks constitute a new stage of aggression,” Trump added. “Do they (Russian forces) want the Tomahawks coming towards them? I don’t think so.” Trump has been mulling the possibility of supplying long-range missiles to kyiv via his European allies since his meeting with Putin in Alaska in August failed to produce a peace deal. Putin has previously warned against supplying Tomahawks to kyiv, saying it would constitute a major escalation and affect relations between Washington and Moscow. Trump said last week that he had “kind of made the decision” whether to send Tomahawks to Ukraine, without elaborating.

Zelensky responded “we’ll see” when asked on Fox News whether Trump had approved the supply of Tomahawks. After his call with the US president, Zelensky said at Sunday’s briefing: “We are working on it… And I am waiting for the president to agree. Of course, we are counting on such decisions, but we will see. We will see.” He said Friday he was in talks with U.S. officials about potentially supplying various long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawks and more ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles. A senior Ukrainian delegation is expected to visit the United States this week.

Moscow has expressed “extreme concern” about the possibility of the United States supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments published Sunday that “the topic of the Tomahawks is extremely worrying.” “We are currently experiencing a very dramatic moment as tensions are escalating on all sides,” he told Russian state media. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, also said in comments published Sunday that he doubted the United States would supply Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles. “I think we need to calm down in this regard. Our friend Donald… sometimes he takes a more forceful approach, and then his tactic is to let go and take a step back. Therefore, we should not take this literally, as if it will fly tomorrow,” Lukashenko told Russian state media.

Russia has attacked Ukraine’s power grid, part of a campaign to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure before winter.. Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said two employees of Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, were injured in Russian strikes on a substation. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said infrastructure was also targeted in the Donetsk, Odessa and Chernihiv regions.
“Russia continues its aerial terror against our cities and communities, intensifying strikes on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy wrote on Ukraine’s energy sector has been a key battleground since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

Zelensky called for tougher secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian oil. “Sanctions, tariffs and joint actions against buyers of Russian oil – those financing this war – must all remain on the table,” he wrote, adding that he had a “very productive” phone call with Trump, during which they discussed strengthening Ukraine’s “air defense, resilience and long-range capabilities” as well as “details related to the energy sector”. Their discussion follows an earlier conversation on Saturday, Zelenskyy said, during which the leaders agreed on Sunday’s topics.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive has advanced in the south of the Zaporizhzhia region as well as in the Donetsk region, Zelenskyy said.. Donetsk is the focal point of the conflict and where Kyiv has recorded successes.