Donald Trump is to issue a personal warning to Vladimir Putin that the US is ready to let Ukraine launch long-range Tomahawk missiles into the heart of Russia unless progress is made on a peace deal. White House officials confirmed a call between the two leaders was scheduled for Thursday, ahead of a White House meeting between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
It comes after Mr Trump revealed he planned to raise the threat of Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 1,500 miles, with the Russian dictator. Ukraine has been asking for the weapons, saying they would put pressure on Putin to bring his invasion to an end, and the US President said earlier this week: “Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so, I think I might speak to Russia about that.”
And he made it clear that supplying Tomahawks would be on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. “He’d like to have Tomahawks,” Mr Trump said of Mr Zelensky, adding: “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”
Mr Putin has said that providing Ukraine with Tomahawks would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
The 20ft missiles, made by American firm Raytheon, have a much longer range than missiles currently used by Ukraine, such as the British Storm Shadow, which can travel up to 200 miles.
Tomahawks fly at high speeds and at low altitudes, making them difficult to detect by ground radar. They have onboard cameras and are extremely accurate.
Experts have warned the missiles would not be a “game-changer” for Ukraine but could be used to target vital infrastructure such as oil depots, marshalling yards and drone factories deep inside Russia.
With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire holding in Gaza, Mr Trump has said ending the Ukraine conflict is now his focus.
Speaking in Jerusalem, the US President said: “We have to get Russia done. We gotta get that one done.”