Washington [US], October 16: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over his ongoing war in Ukraine, saying it was "making him look very bad."
"I don't know why he continues with this war," Trump said. "He should have won that war in one week."
Trump made the remarks during a bilateral lunch with Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House. The meeting took place shortly after the US government announced a USD 20 billion financial package to support Argentina's economy.
The comments came ahead of Trump's scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, which is expected to focus on continued US support for Kyiv.
The meeting follows reports from October 13 that Trump was considering sending the US-made Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine before making a final decision on the weapons supply, as per several local media reports.
"I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest with you, about Tomahawks," the US leader told reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One while en route to West Asia.
He added that he was going to send Kyiv Tomahawks if the Ukraine conflict "was not going to get settled," Russian news agency TASS reported.
Amid these discussions, NATO ally Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told ABC News that the possible US decision to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could help "push Russia back," and would send "a very strong message" to Moscow.
According to the Missile Defence Project at the Washington D.C.-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as cited by ABC News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier confirmed that Kyiv was seeking access to the long-range missile, variants of which have ranges of up to 1,550 miles.
Zelensky said on Sunday that he had spoken with Trump for the second time in two days, calling their conversations about the war with Russia, Ukraine's military capabilities, and its energy sector "very productive."
Taking to X, the Ukrainian President said that his talks with Trump "covered all the aspects of the situation," including Ukraine's defence, air defence, resilience, and long-range capabilities.
He added that the leaders also discussed "many details" regarding Ukraine's energy sector, though he did not elaborate further.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News aired on Sunday, Zelensky expressed optimism that Trump's success in securing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire could serve as a precedent for achieving a similar resolution with Russia and ending the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that earlier this month, on October 2, President Vladimir Putin, in his address at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, said that Tomahawk missiles "could not be used" without the direct involvement of US military personnel.
He cautioned that such an action would mark "a qualitatively new stage of escalation" in relations between Russia and the United States.
On October 5, Putin further warned that a potential US decision to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine might "ruin the positive trend" in Russia-US relations, TASS reported.
The BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, manufactured by RTX Corporation, is a precision-guided, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that has been in service since the early 1980s.
The US-made missiles are typically launched from warships, submarines, or specialised ground systems.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), at least 1,945 Russian military objects lie within range of the 1,550-mile variant of the Tomahawk, and at least 1,655 could be reached by the 1,000-mile variant.
"Ukraine likely could significantly degrade Russia's frontline battlefield performance by targeting a vulnerable subset of rear support areas that sustain and support Russia's frontline operations," the ISW noted in its October 5 update.
The ISW further stated that Ukraine's ability to launch missile strikes deep into Russia's rear with larger payloads could enable it to target key military assets, such as the Shahed drone factory in Yelabuga, Republic of Tatarstan, or the Engels-2 Air Base in Saratov Oblast -- from where Russia dispatches strategic bombers that fire air-launched cruise missiles at Ukraine.
Source: Times of Oman
