Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025 (Jae C. Hong/AP)
EA on TVP World: Will Trump Send Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine?
As Vladimir Putin pursues a meeting with Donald Trump next week — following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lunch with Trump in the White House on Friday — I joined France 24 English and Ukraine’s War and Politics 24 to analyze the Kremlin’s motives in its 44 1/2-month full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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I explain to Mark Owen that when Putin finally gave Trump a face-to-face meeting, in Alaska on August 15, it was to push back the threat of toughened US sanctions. This time, the Russian’s concern is the supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine for strikes inside Russia, as Moscow only makes small advances on the frontline.
In a war with multiple fronts, Ukraine is already causing serious damage to Russia with its own strikes.
The Tomahawks would add to that arsenal, as the attacks are constraining Russia’s ability to wage its invasion.
I deal with Putin’s “predictable” response that Russia will counter any Tomahawk deployment with an escalation of its attacks.
Asked by Owen about the prospect of a “peace deal” from a Putin-Trump encounter, I explain that the Kremlin has no interest in negotiations, only the seizure of more territory in Ukraine and Kyiv’s surrender.
I add that beyond Ukraine, Russia is pursuing its “hybrid war” in Europe with cyber-attacks, sabotage, disinformation, and drone and fighter jet incursions into the airspace of NATO countries.
Just as you have to defend Ukraine directly, you have to make sure NATO is resilient in the air, on the ground, in information operations, in cyber-operations — so the Russians don’t begin to split Europe at a time when its support of Ukraine is needed more than ever.
Watch War and Politics 24
In a 20-minute discussion, I chat with hosts Daniel Tkiie and Sofia Nazarenko about the effect of Ukraine’s strikes inside Russia, changing Donald Trump’s assessment of the Russian invasion.
Donald Trump only wants to be with a winner. He does not want to be associated with a loser.
Once he thinks someone is a loser, he runs away. So you have to convince him that Vladimir Putin is a loser.
“Mr Trump, do you want to be with the winners who will hail you as the peacemaker who helped save Ukraine?”
Russia has not declared war on Ukraine. NATO attacked the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 and occupied part of its territory without declaring war.
[Editor’s Note: So Vladimir Putin hasn’t declared war on Ukraine yet? That is certainly a unique reading of the situation.]
If Putin is not interested in a negotiated settlement, why would he want to meet Trump in Budapest? I think he’s giving Trump one last chance to reach a settlement. If Trump can’t make a deal, and he sends Tomahawks to the government in Kiev, Putin will declare war on Ukraine and it’ll all be over. This is what some analysts are saying. These analysts claim that Putin was trying to smooth things over when he said that the delivery of Tomahawks would “damage” Russia-US relations. Putin meant that it would damage bilateral relations to such a degree, that they would be beyond repair. And that’s another reason why they are saying that Kyiv’s strongest European supporters won’t be invited to Hungary.