Now there is talk of Tomahawks, long-range missiles that Ukraine sees as essential to continue putting pressure on Russia. And everything will have been born after the face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin
The United States has increased intelligence sharing with Ukraine to include information about targets deeper inside Russian territory, as part of a strategic shift that both countries hope will restart negotiations with Moscow, which stalled after a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska this summer, which failed to produce a peace, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to press Trump for more long-range weapons capable of hitting targets inside Russian territory when he meets with Trump in Washington DC, at the White House, this Friday.
Trump indicated he was open to the idea in the days leading up to Zelensky’s visit, highlighting how his mindset on the war has changed since the Alaska summit.
The change in position that could mean providing information focusing on energy sites and infrastructure that the Trump administration previously told Kiev was beyond the pale came after the meeting between Trump and Putin at an Alaskan military base, where the US president was unable to secure a deal with Putin to end the war.
In the wake of the summit, the US has sought to increase pressure on Putin, including changing information sharing that the Trump administration hopes will alter the Russian leader’s calculus about continuing the war.
The Financial Times was the first to report US support for Ukraine’s ongoing campaign to attack Russian energy infrastructure.
The Trump administration had asked Ukraine to refrain from attacking Russia’s oil, gas and energy infrastructure ahead of the summit, as officials sought a peace deal with Moscow. But the US gave Ukraine the green light to resume strikes against those targets after both leaders left Alaska without a deal in hand, one of the sources said.
With US approval, Ukraine has now adopted a deliberate strategy of attacking Russian energy-related infrastructure, the source said.
With the front lines effectively frozen and more than a million casualties in total during the conflict, Ukraine believes attacking Russian energy infrastructure is one of the few ways left to produce strategic effects, the source added.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.
Putin and Trump had what Trump described in a post on Truth Social as a “long call” this Thursday, the day before Zelensky arrived at the White House.
It remains to be seen how many more energy-related targets remain unharmed and whether Ukraine retains the long-range strike capability to successfully destroy facilities located deep within Russia – data points that would help demonstrate whether the current strategy can be successful. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that his army needs additional U.S. help to do so, repeatedly requesting American-made long-range weapons in the weeks following the Alaska summit.
Trump has indicated he is open to that idea, having recently floated the possibility of giving Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles unless Russia radically alters its negotiating stance. Ahead of a planned meeting with Trump at the White House this Friday, Zelensky told a group of journalists in Kiev that the main topics of their conversation will include “air defense and our possibilities with [mísseis de] long range to pressure Russia.”
In this image released by the US Navy, the guided missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from the Mediterranean Sea on March 29, 2011. (US Navy/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)
On Sunday, the Ukrainian leader made a point of pointing out that the use of Tomahawk could be closer. “We see and hear that Russia is afraid that the Americans will give us Tomahawks, which is a sign that exactly this pressure can work for peace,” he said.
Trump said this Tuesday that Zelensky will go to the White House to pressure the US to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles, which would allow the country to penetrate deep into Russian territory.
“I know what he has to say. He wants guns. He would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters while meeting with his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, at the White House.
When asked on Sunday whether he would send the missiles, Trump had this to say: “We’ll see… maybe,” adding, “Maybe I’ll tell them that if the war isn’t resolved, we very well might, maybe we won’t, but maybe we will.” Will they [a Rússia] Do you want the Tomahawks to come your way? I don’t think so.”
An American official stressed that, regardless of what happens, the most important thing is that the supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine is being seriously discussed.
Trump himself has repeatedly expressed his astonishment at the prospect of Ukraine having the ability to attack Moscow or St. Petersburg, including in recent calls with Zelensky, according to another source familiar with the conversations. During a call after the Alaska summit, Trump asked Zelensky whether his military had the capacity to hit Moscow or St. Petersburg.
The Ukrainian leader assured them they could do it if they had the right weapons, the sources told CNN.
Meanwhile, the US has increased information sharing and approved the sale of 3,350 ERAM (Extended Range Attack Munition) missiles – which appear to be the first tangible steps Trump has taken to bolster Ukraine’s long-range capabilities following the summit with Putin.
The Trump administration has not placed any explicit restrictions on how Ukraine can use these long-range missiles, which were part of a recently approved arms sale worth nearly 800 million euros, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The Biden administration also did not set any limitations on how Ukraine could use the weapons it provided to it that were technically capable of hitting targets inside Russia, namely the army’s tactical missile systems or ATACM, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Ukrainian soldiers watch a fatal drone attack on a Russian soldier trying to cross a field north of Izyum, at a drone command center in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on October 7. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
But ATACMs have less range than Tomahawks or ERAMs, which forces Ukrainian forces to move quickly and hide the launchers to get them closer to enemy lines, the source said. The air-launched missiles approved by the Trump administration offer more flexibility.
However, it may still be difficult for aircraft using ERAM missiles to approach the border due to patrols by Russian MiG fighters, the source added, limitations that have fueled Ukraine’s request for Tomahawks and other long-range weapons.
The Tomahawks’ range and speed of almost 2,500 kilometers means they only make sense for evading air defenses and hitting valuable infrastructure deep inside Russia. The Kremlin has suggested that U.S. personnel would have to operate such sophisticated weaponry and that the Tomahawks may have nuclear capabilities — a saber-rattling maneuver that fuels fears of unintended escalation.
