Deliveries of the long-range missiles to Kiev would erase all recent Russia-US diplomatic gains, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said<\/p>\n
Vladimir Zelensky has urged US President Donald Trump to provide Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles and added that if such a step leads to a ceasefire, Kiev will nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize.
\nLast month, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that Washington was mulling sending Ukraine Tomahawks, which have a maximum range of 2,500km (1,550 miles), meaning Kiev could potentially use them to attack Moscow and numerous other Russian cities.
\n\u201cNow, an important signal is the strengthening of Ukraine by all possible means. And this is one of those opportunities that is important to me \u2013 Tomahawks,\u201d Zelensky told journalists on Thursday, according to RBC-Ukraine.
\nZelensky added that if Trump could help bring about a ceasefire, \u201che should be nominated for the Nobel Prize, we will nominate him on behalf of Ukraine.\u201d
\nThe missiles could \u201csober up the Russians\u201d and \u201cmake them sit down at the negotiating table,\u201d he was cited as saying. Moscow has argued that Kiev, emboldened by military support from Western Europe, has brought the peace process to a standstill.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump boosts pressure over Nobel Peace Prize \u2013 FT<\/p>\n
According to Axios, however, White House officials have expressed concern whether the US could control the use of Tomahawks once they\u2019re in Ukrainian hands.
\nTrump recently said that he had already made up his mind about whether he would supply the missiles but did not say what that decision was. \u201cI\u2019m not looking to see escalation,\u201d he added.
\nIn February, he accused Zelensky of \u201cgambling with World War III\u201d for refusing to negotiate with Russia, when the Ukrainian leader\u2019s visit to the White House devolved into sharp mutual recriminations.
\nTrump\u2019s diplomatic outreach to Moscow since the start of his second term has led to the resumption of direct peace talks over the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n
However, all the diplomatic progress the two sides have achieved would be wiped away if Tomahawks are provided to Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Putin issues warning on US Tomahawks for Ukraine<\/p>\n
He stressed that it would be impossible for Kiev to use the cruise missiles \u201cwithout the direct involvement of American military personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deliveries of the long-range missiles to Kiev would erase all recent Russia-US diplomatic gains, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Vladimir Zelensky has urged US President Donald Trump to provide…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t