Pentagon approves transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, final decision up to Trump – CNN

The Pentagon has given the green light to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, though the final decision will rest with President Donald Trump.

Source: CNN, citing three US and European officials, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Joint Staff informed the White House of its assessment in early October, shortly before Trump's meeting in Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who urged the US president to provide the missiles.

During the meeting, Trump said he did not want to supply the missiles to Ukraine because the US needs it to defend itself.

The Pentagon's assessment encouraged US European allies, who believe Washington now has fewer reasons to withhold the weapons, two European officials said. A few days before the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump also stated that the United States has "a lot of Tomahawks" that could potentially be supplied to Ukraine.

However, American and European officials were surprised when, only days later, Trump abruptly changed his position, saying during opening remarks at a working lunch with Zelenskyy that the United States "needs" the Tomahawks. He then told Zelenskyy privately that the US would not provide the missiles, at least for now.

Trump's decision came a day after his phone call with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, who told the US president that the Tomahawks could strike major Russian cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg and that doing so would not significantly affect the battlefield but would harm US-Russia relations.

Meanwhile, CNN sources said Trump has not entirely abandoned the idea of supplying the missiles, and the administration has prepared plans for rapid delivery to Ukraine if he gives the order.

Although the Pentagon has no concerns about its stockpiles, US military officials are still determining how Ukraine would be trained to operate and deploy the missiles, CNN's sources said.

They added that several operational issues must be resolved before Ukraine can use the missiles effectively.

Quote: "One outstanding question is how Ukraine would fire the missiles if the US provided them. Tomahawks are most commonly launched from surface ships or submarines, but Ukraine's Navy is severely depleted, so the missiles would likely need to be launched on land. The Marine Corps and Army have developed ground-based launchers that could be provided to Ukraine.

But even if the US did not want to provide the launchers, European officials believe Ukraine could figure out a workaround."

Background:

• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte earlier stated that supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles remains "under review" by Trump.
• Zelenskyy said that during his meeting with Trump, the American leader did not say "no" to the possibility of supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, but did not say "yes" either.

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