ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he could ship Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its conflict there quickly — suggesting that he may very well be prepared to extend the stress on Vladimir Putin’s authorities utilizing a key weapons system.

“I’d say, ’Look: if this conflict just isn’t going to get settled, I’m going to ship them Tomahawks,” Trump informed reporters aboard Air Power One as he flew to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an unimaginable weapon, very offensive weapon. And actually, Russia doesn’t want that.”

Trump additionally stated, “I’d inform them that if the conflict just isn’t settled — that we could very nicely.” He added, “We could not, however we could do it. I feel it’s applicable to convey up.”

His feedback got here after Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Trump stated he talked about presumably sending Tomahawks throughout that dialog.

“Do they wish to have Tomahawks getting into that route? I don’t assume so,” Trump stated of Russia. “I feel I’d converse to Russia about that.” He added that “Tomahawks are a brand new step of aggression.”

His options adopted Russia having attacked Ukraine’s energy grid in a single day, a part of an ongoing marketing campaign to cripple Ukrainian power infrastructure earlier than winter. Moscow additionally expressed “excessive concern” over the U.S. doubtlessly offering Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Putin himself has beforehand steered that the USA supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will significantly harm relations between Moscow and Washington.

For his half, Zelenskyy described his newest name with Trump as “very productive,” and stated the pair had mentioned strengthening Ukraine’s “air protection, resilience, and long-range capabilities,” together with “particulars associated to the power sector.”

In an interview with Fox Information Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing” after his name with Trump, Zelenskyy was requested whether or not Trump had permitted the Tomahawks and stated, “we work on it.”

“I’m ready for president to sure,” Zelenskyy stated. “After all we depend on such selections, however we’ll see. We are going to see.”

The Ukrainian president stated Friday that he was in talks with U.S. officers concerning the doable provision of assorted long-range precision strike weapons, together with Tomahawks and extra ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated in remarks printed Sunday that “the subject of Tomahawks is of maximum concern.”

Trump, who has been pissed off by Russia in his efforts to finish the conflict, stated final week that he has “kind of decided” on whether or not to ship Tomahawks to Ukraine, with out elaborating. A senior Ukrainian delegation is about to go to the U.S. this week.

The U.S. president in latest weeks has taken a notably harder tact with Putin, after the Russian chief has declined to have interaction in direct talks with Zelenskyy about easing preventing.

Final month, Trump introduced that he now believes Ukraine might win again all of the territory misplaced to Russia — a dramatic shift from the Republican’s repeated requires Kyiv to make concessions to finish Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

However Trump, at the least thus far, has resisted Zelenskyy’s requires Tomahawks. They might permit Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and put the kind of stress on Putin that Zelenskyy argues is required to get the Russians to significantly have interaction in peace talks.

Trump stated aboard Air Power One of many conflict: “I actually assume Putin would look nice if he received this settled” and that “It’s not going to be good for him” if not.

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Weissert reported from Washington. Related Press author Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.