Pentagon green lights Tomahawks to Ukraine, decision now with Trump - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

A new Pentagon assessment stated that gifting Ukraine with the missiles would not negatively impact the US's stockpile, following Trump's hesitancy to give away what "we need to protect our country."

 

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 17, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

 

The Pentagon gave the White House permission to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday.

The decision now rests in US President Donald Trump’s hands, the report stated, citing three officials familiar with the matter.

 

In October, Trump stated that he was against giving Ukraine the long-range missiles, stating that “we don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country.”

However, the new Pentagon assessment stated that the move would not negatively impact the US’s stockpiles.

 

The Department of War gave its assessment to the president earlier in October before he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, DC, US, March 3, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/JOSHUA ROBERTS/FILE PHOTO)

 Two European officials familiar with the matter 

Trump told Zelensky in a private meeting that he would not provide Kyiv with the Tomahawks at that point in time.

 

The US president had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone a day prior to his meeting with Zelensky.

 

In the call, Putin said that providing Kyiv with the missiles would damage US-Russia relations.

The missiles were never off the table, officials told CNN, and the administration had plans on how to quickly send them to Ukraine should Trump give the order.

 

But US defense officials are concerned regarding how Ukraine would train and deploy the missiles, sources told CNN.Another sources stated that there were several operational issues that would need to be fixed before Ukraine could use the missiles.

 

The missiles are traditionally launched from ships or submarines, but European officials believe that Ukrainians would be able to figure out a work around to launch them.

The US Army has also developed ground launchers for the misses.

 

Zelenksy wrote in a X/Twitter post Monday that he hopes to expand his countries long range capabilities by January of next year.

“Global sanctions and our pinpoint precision are practically syncing up to end this war on terms fair for Ukraine. All deep-strike goals must be fully locked in by year’s end, including expansion of our long-range footprint.”

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-872346

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