Trump shifts stance on Tomahawks after Putin call? Zelenskyy weighs in

 US President Donald Trump may have changed his mind about providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles after a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reportedly fears the supply of American weapons, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with NBC News.

Zelenskyy said he does not actually know why Trump suddenly "backed off," as he did not witness the phone call between the US President and Putin. However, the Ukrainian President suggested the reason is obvious.

"It's good again that he didn't say 'no.' But I think what he may have understood after the call — I don't know, I wasn't on the phone call — but I knew that Tomahawks is very sensitive for the Russians. They are afraid that the United States can deliver to Ukraine. I think that Putin is afraid that the United States will deliver us Tomahawks," said Zelenskyy, adding that Ukraine knows the locations of military targets on Russian territory and that Putin fears the missiles could be used.

Tomahawk missile deliveries to Ukraine

The phone call between Putin and Trump reportedly lasted over 2.5 hours. According to media sources, Putin demanded that Trump not send missiles to Ukraine and offered the US President various dubious proposals in return.

Some results followed. During a White House meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump reportedly said the missiles were needed by the US at least as much as by Ukraine. He also presented himself as a "great peacemaker" who hopes to end the war in Ukraine very soon.

After meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy told reporters that the issue of providing Ukraine with Tomahawks had not been canceled. However, the parties agreed not to raise the topic publicly, as the US reportedly did not want to escalate tensions.

Zelenskyy also noted that Russians fear not so much the Tomahawks themselves, but how Ukraine could combine them with other weapons. Even the mere suggestion of supplying these missiles reportedly triggers panic in the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, according to Axios,Trump told Zelenskyy he had no intention of transferring Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Furthermore, according to the CNN sources, Trump seemed to believe Ukraine was allegedly seeking to escalate the war.