US may give Ukraine weapons capable of inflicting 'serious damage' on Russia, Whitaker says

According to him, the US has weapons capable of causing "serious damage at a place and time of our choosing."

"Some of those are going to continue to be potentially moved to Ukraine for their use, and that could change the calculation. But obviously, we haven't reached the point where Vladimir Putin has decided that the time is appropriate to negotiate," Whitaker said.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot show weakness, even though he is actually very weak.

Whitaker recalled the panic in Russia over the possible transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, as well as France's seizure of a tanker from Russia's shadow fleet.

The US ambassador to NATO also mentioned Russia’s reaction to how US President Donald Trump compared it to a "paper tiger" during a speech to US generals.

Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine

Trump's team has expressed concern over losing control of Tomahawk missiles if they are transferred to Ukraine.

Over the past year, Kyiv has repeatedly raised the issue of obtaining long-range weapons. Recently, Trump said he had almost made a decision on sending Tomahawks to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not disclosed whether Ukraine specifically requested Tomahawk missiles. According to media reports, he discussed the matter with US officials during his visit to the United States.

Russia has already reacted to the potential delivery of Tomahawks to Ukraine. In particular, it threatened a serious escalation if long-range missiles were sent to Kyiv.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin stated that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine would worsen the positive prospects in relations that had been developing between the countries.