US President Donald Trump indicated again he is not considering providing Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, which has pleaded for the long-range weapon it says is crucial to striking back against Russia as the Kremlin intensifies air strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One on November 2 if he was considering providing the sophisticated cruise missiles to Ukraine, Trump said: "No, not really," although he later added he could still change his mind.
Trump has at times suggested the United States could provide Tomahawks to Ukraine, although he has more recently appeared to oppose the idea. His latest response could further serve to dampen Kyiv's hopes of receiving them.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Says It Hits Russian Black Sea Oil Facility, Gets Extra Patriot SystemsOn October 12, asked by reporters whether he would provide Kyiv with Tomahawks, Trump replied: "We'll see...I may."
"I might say, 'Look, if this war is not going to get settled, I may send [Ukraine] Tomahawks.' Russia doesn't need that."
"Do they [the Russians] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so," he added.
Five days later, though, Trump -- who is attempting to mediate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia -- told reporters he hoped the conflict would end "without thinking about Tomahawks.”
Trump has also expressed concerns about relinquishing Tomahawks -- which have a range of 1,600-2,500 kilometers -- that might be needed for the US military's own requirements.
Here Is What Tomahawk Missiles Could Do For Ukraine
"We need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too," he said. "We have a lot of them, but we need them. We can't deplete [our arsenal] for our country.... So I don't know what we can do about that."
However, CNN on October 31 quoted unnamed US and European officials familiar with the matter as saying the Pentagon had given the White House the green light to provide Ukraine with Tomahawks after determining it would not negatively hit US stockpiles. Neither the Pentagon nor White House commented on that report.
Following a meeting in Washington on October 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Trump had discussed Tomahawks, but he appeared less optimistic about the prospects of receiving the sophisticated missiles after the talks.
“The Ukrainians didn't come expecting it to happen, so in that sense it's not exactly a disappointment,” Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told RFE/RL after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting.
Russia Warns Against Tomahawk Deliveries
Moscow has previously warned Washington not to provide Ukraine with Tomahawks, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying such deliveries would represent a "completely new stage of escalation" between the United States and Russia.
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What is Russia's Burevestnik Missile?
The matter of the Tomahawks comes as Putin said Russia had successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-weapon capable Burevestnik cruise missile and is seeking ways to deploy it, alarming many in the West.
In an interview with CBS TV's 60 Minutes, conducted on October 31 and broadcast on November 2, Trump said Russia and China secretly conduct nuclear tests but "don't talk about it." Trump last week said the United States planned to resume nuclear weapons testing.
"You don't necessarily know where they're testing.... They test way underground where people don't know exactly what's happening with the test," he added.
He gave no further details. No country other than North Korea has reported carrying out nuclear tests since the 1990s.
In an interview with Fox News on November 2, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested the United States is not currently planning to conduct tests that involve nuclear explosions.
"I think the tests we're talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions," Wright said.
"These are what we call 'noncritical explosions,' so you're testing all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion," he said.
Ukraine Strikes Russian Energy Sites
As Russia's full-scale invasion nears the four-year mark, Ukraine is seeking the Tomahawks to weaken Russia's war effort by striking oil and energy facilities deep inside its territory.
Ukraine has continued to hit energy sites in Russia even without the Tomahawks, using drones that have less explosive punch than the US-made missiles.
On November 2, Ukraine said a drone attack had hit Russia's Black Sea port of Tuapse, setting an oil tanker ablaze and damaging port infrastructure, in the latest of a series of strikes on Moscow's crucial oil sector.
"The security service continues to strike at Russian oil refining infrastructure, which gives the enemy resources for aggression against Ukraine," a Ukrainian security source told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
SEE ALSO: Kyiv Accuses Russia Of 'Nuclear Terrorism' With Strikes On Power SubstationsRussian officials confirmed the strike, saying that "fragments of [drones] fell on an oil tanker, damaging the deck superstructure. A fire broke out on the vessel. The crew were evacuated."
Also on November 2, Zelenskyy said Germany had provided Ukraine with additional US-made Patriot air defense systems.
He did not specify when this happened or how many systems or missiles were provided. The United States does not deliver the Patriots directly; instead, they are sold to NATO member nations, which transfer them to Kyiv.