President Trump: Tomahawk missile transfer to Ukraine 'may' happen

The Russian Federation's RT channel reported on the evening of November 3, local time, that US President Donald Trump said that he was "not really" considering providing Kiev with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, and that Ukraine and the Russian Federation should be left to "resolve" the conflict themselves.

According to RT, President Trump made this statement on Sunday (November 2), while on Air Force One.

At that time, Mr. Trump was asked about the possibility of providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine after the US CNN reported that the Pentagon had approved the move and concluded that it would not significantly affect the US stockpile.

“No, not necessarily. It could happen, it could change, but at this point I’m not doing that,” Mr. Trump declared.

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has sent conflicting signals about providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, although he has never completely ruled out the possibility of a transfer.

Moscow has strongly warned that this will certainly ruin the reconciliation process between the United States and the Russian Federation, seriously damaging bilateral relations without changing the situation on the battlefield in the Ukraine conflict.

Commenting on the CNN report, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Saturday (November 1) that, based on the current situation and previous years, it is clear that militarization and arms supplies will not lead to a peaceful solution.

“Moreover, such actions would run counter to the election pledges made by the current US administration,” Ms. Zakharova stressed.

President Trump also suggested that the Ukraine conflict should be allowed to continue until the warring parties show a willingness to resolve it.

When asked if there was a “last straw” that made him believe that the Russian Federation was not ready to end the hostilities, President Trump replied that there was no such thing.

“There is no straw that breaks the camel’s back. Sometimes you have to let them fight. And they are fighting, they are solving it by fighting,” the US leader said, adding that the battles had been “extremely fierce” for both Kiev and Moscow.

Mr Trump has long promised to mediate an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, resuming direct talks with Moscow earlier this year.

However, Russia-US contacts and resumed direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev have yet to bring any breakthrough.

The US leader has repeatedly expressed frustration at the lack of progress.