Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Axios this week that he asked President Donald Trump to provide his country with long-range missiles that could strike as far into Russia as Moscow.
Although he did not name the requested missile system while being interviewed Wednesday for “The Axios Show,” Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be pressured to talk peace if he knew Ukraine had the missiles.
Another source confirmed to Axios that the Tomahawk precision-guided missiles were what Zelenskyy had asked for from Trump.
The Telegraph reported earlier Friday that Zelenskyy had requested Tomahawk missiles in Tuesday’s meeting with Trump.
After Axios’ Barak Ravid asked what would happen if Ukraine had long-range missiles from the U.S., Zelenskyy said: “We will use it.”
Zelenskyy added, however, that Ukraine did not wish to target civilians, and primarily wanted the long-range weapons system to try to force Putin to enter peace talks.
Russia has been at war in Ukraine since its invasion in February 2022.
Several months ago, the Tomahawks were the only weapons system that Trump did not agree to sell to NATO countries on Ukraine’s behalf, Axios reported Friday.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine can reach deep inside Russia with drones, but many Russian military targets have sophisticated air defenses that are hard to breach.
“The biggest problem is we don’t have enough air defense,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy told Axios that Trump told him that Ukraine should respond to Russia tit-for-tat.
“If they attack our energy, President Trump supports that we can answer on energy,” he said.
Zelenskyy said that although Trump met with Putin in Alaska to try to end the war through diplomacy, Trump now knows the Russian president was toying with him.
“I was very happy the president was detailed, prepared about the situation on the battlefield and he understands that Putin doesn’t win,” Zelenskyy said of the meeting in New York. “It was good that President Trump understood that it’s important to trust us.
“For me, it’s very important. Putin lied to him. That was my feeling yesterday [Tuesday], that he understands Putin was playing games with him.”
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