October 07, 2025
WASHINGTON – President Donald J. Trump signaled a significant escalation in military support for Ukraine on Tuesday, stating he has "sort of made a decision" to send long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, a move that directly challenges a stark warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin just a day earlier.
The potential policy shift, which would provide Kyiv with weapons capable of striking deep into Russian territory, comes just over a month after the President reportedly refused to include the powerful missiles in aid packages.
"I've sort of made a decision," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding a significant caveat. He expressed a need to know "what they’re doing with them… WHERE are they sending them," suggesting the United States would seek to curate or oversee the targets Ukraine could strike.
This move comes on the heels of a stern statement from the Kremlin. On Monday, President Putin warned that providing such advanced weaponry would destroy any progress in U.S.-Russia relations, arguing that their use would be "impossible without the direct involvement of U.S. officers." Moscow has long maintained that the deployment of such systems would be viewed as direct American participation in the conflict.
Despite Trump's suggestion of target control, Putin's earlier comments indicate that Moscow is unlikely to see a distinction, raising the stakes for a direct confrontation between the two nuclear powers.
The President's apparent change of heart marks a dramatic reversal from his position in late September. During the United Nations General Assembly, Trump held a "mandatory" meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. In subsequent statements, he urged Ukraine to regain its territory while emphasizing that European allies must carry the financial burden of the war. At that time, Tomahawk missiles were considered a red line the administration was unwilling to cross.
The Tomahawk is a sophisticated, long-range cruise missile that could fundamentally alter the strategic landscape of the war. With a range that could potentially reach Moscow, its delivery to Ukrainian forces would provide a capability they have sought since the conflict began, allowing them to threaten high-value military and infrastructure targets far behind the front lines.
While the President did not offer a timeline for a final announcement, his public comments have already sent shockwaves through diplomatic channels. The decision now places immense pressure on U.S.-Russia relations, which analysts say are at their most fragile point in decades. The world now watches to see if Trump’s plan for target curation will be enough to prevent the escalation that Putin has explicitly warned against.