Trump made it clear that he will not give Zelensky Tomahawk missiles

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that the United States will not transfer Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, citing the need to preserve America’s own stockpiles.

He made this statement during a meeting with members of the White House press pool following a phone call with Vladimir Putin.

According to Trump, his conversation with Putin was “very good” and, as he cautiously suggested, “so productive that it could lead to peace.”

The American president also said he hopes to meet with the Russian leader within the next two weeks and plans to hold separate talks with Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky “because of the poor relations between them.”

“We need the Tomahawks. The United States has a lot of them, but we need them. For the sake of our country, we cannot deplete our stockpiles. We need them too,” Trump said, effectively removing the issue of transferring long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine from the agenda.

He recounted to journalists how the conversation with Putin developed in that direction.

“I told Putin: ‘Do you mind if I give a few thousand Tomahawks to your opposition?’ He didn’t like that idea,” Trump said.

He was also asked whether Putin tried to prevent the sale of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

“Of course. Do you think he would say, ‘Please, sell those Tomahawks — I’m very grateful’?” Trump replied. “I really appreciate that Putin tried to stop me from selling missiles to Ukraine,” he added.

The U.S. president also said that “Europe wants to end the war in Ukraine, but they are unable to do it. I can do it. I think we’ll succeed.”

He further suggested that the United States might not need to impose additional sanctions against Russia. At the same time, Trump emphasized that after a “very good” conversation with Putin, he intends to hold separate meetings with the conflicting sides:

“I’ll have to meet with them separately.”