JD Vance says Ukraine’s request for Tomahawks remains undecided

Vice President Vance told reporters that no final decision has yet been made regarding the transfer of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

However, he added that the US continues to evaluate the possibilities of supplying weapons to Kyiv.

The US Vice President stressed that on this issue, Donald Trump is primarily intent on protecting his country’s interests.

He said that, obviously, this meant that they needed to have the critical weapon systems for their own military, for their own troops, and that this was what the President was focused on.

Donald Trump’s position

Three days ago, on October 17, Donald Trump made a similar statement. Speaking to journalists at the White House, he said:

“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too. We have uh a lot of them, but we need them. We can't deplete for our country. So, you know, they're very vital. They're very powerful. They're very accurate. They're very good, but we need them, too. So I don’t know what we can do about that.”

The US President also said that Putin, during a phone call, was not pleased with the idea of the US providing several thousand Tomahawks to partners.

“I did actually say, ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand tomahawks to your opposition?' I did say that to him. I said it just that way. He didn't like the idea,” Trump said.

Explanation from Volodymyr Zelenskyy

After meeting with Donald Trump on October 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a briefing that the issue of providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine had not actually been canceled. However, both sides agreed not to discuss the topic publicly, as the US reportedly wanted to avoid escalation.

He also noted that the Russians fear not only these missiles but also how Ukraine could combine them with other weaponry.

According to Zelenskyy, Trump may have changed his stance on supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles after his conversation with Putin.