(MENAFN- Live Mint) United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that it would be premature to give long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine as it could escalate situation with Russia. He also suggested that America, too, needs the missiles, as he hoped to get the Russia-Ukraine war solved without the Tomahawk.

Volodymyr Zelensky, who met Donald Trump at the White House today, has been requesting weapons that would enable Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory, targeting key military sites, energy facilities, and critical infrastructure.

Zelensky at the start of the White House talks said he had a“proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

When Zelensky mentioned that Ukraine needs Tomahawks, Trump said,“Tomahawks could mean escalation. Hopefully they won't need it. Hopefully we'll be able to get the war over with without thinking about Tomahawks.”

“I have an obligation also to make sure that we're completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what's going to happen in war and peace. We'd much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We'd much rather have the war be over to be honest.”

He continued,“We need Tomahawks, and we need a lot of the other things that we've been sending over the last four years to Ukraine. One of the reasons we want to get this war over is exactly that – it's not easy for us to give. You're talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” indicating that the US wouldn't provide Tomahawks to Ukraine.

Trump added that he was confident of getting Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the invasion he launched in 2022, following a phone call with the Kremlin chief a day earlier.

The US and Russian presidents agreed on Thursday, October 16, to a new summit in the Hungarian capital Budapest, which would be their first since an August meeting in Alaska that failed to produce any kind of peace deal.

“I think that President Putin wants to end the war,” Trump said.

But Zelensky, demurred, saying that Putin was“not ready” for peace.

On the eve of Zelensky's visit to Washington, Vladimir Putin had warned in a call to Trump, against delivering the Tomahawk missiles, saying itt would significantly put strain on their relationship.

Quoting Vladimir Putin, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said,“The delivery of Tomahawks would not change the battlefield situation but would harm US-Russia ties and the peace process.”

(With agency inputs)

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