(MENAFN) A senior Ukrainian official has said that US-supplied Tomahawk cruise missiles could be employed to increase military pressure on Russia and potentially push it toward peace negotiations, according to reports.

The remarks come as Washington considers providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, which can strike targets up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) away. The advanced weapons, costing around $1.3 million each, would give Kiev the capability to hit locations deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had “sort of made a decision” regarding the missile transfers but emphasized, “I’m not looking to see escalation.”

Egor Cherniev, deputy chairman of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence, told reporters that such weapons could be introduced gradually, possibly under strict usage conditions.

“First they will give us rockets, but a few pieces, or a couple of dozen, but they will not allow us to shoot them at once and we will see the Kremlin’s reaction,” he said.

Cherniev added that if Russia did not respond strongly, Ukraine could expand its target range.

“The envelope increases, allowing strikes on the Russian border,” he explained, noting that over time, restrictions could ease “except perhaps strikes on the Kremlin and directly on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

He described the strategy as a gradual escalation designed to pressure Moscow into negotiations.

“This whole epic could take at least a few months. But it’s already real pressure,” Cherniev argued.
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would “lead to the destruction of [Russia-US] relations, or at least the positive tendencies that have appeared in these relations.”

Putin also stressed that Ukraine could not operate such weapons without “direct participation of American military personnel,” and insisted that the delivery of Tomahawks would not significantly change “the balance of power on the battlefield.”

Referring to earlier shipments of long-range ATACMS missiles, Putin said they initially caused some damage but that Russia’s air defense systems had since adapted to counter them.

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