Reports from CNN say the Pentagon has approved the provision of long range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine after assessing its impact on U.S. stockpiles, while leaving the ultimate decision to President Trump.
President Trump had previously mulled providing the missiles to Ukraine if Putin did not come to the negotiating table in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.
"Yeah, I might tell him (Putin), if the war is not settled, we may very well do it," Trump said. "We may not, but we may do it... Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so."
According to CNN's sources, the Joint Staff informed the White House that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would not negatively affect US stockpiles.
Unnamed European officials told CNN that the Pentagon's conclusion encouraged America's European allies, who believed Washington now had fewer reasons to deny Ukraine the missiles.
Russia President Vladimir Putin had said supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks - which have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles) and could therefore strike anywhere within European Russia, including Moscow - would destroy relations between the United States and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been pushing for the missiles as part of air support and to effectively target oil and energy facilities deep inside Russia.
He added that Ukraine would only use Tomahawk missiles for military purposes and not attack civilians in Russia, should the U.S. provide them.
Pentagon officials are also discussing how Ukrainian forces could be trained to operate Tomahawks. Several operational details still need to be resolved.
One key issue is how Ukraine would launch the missiles which are typically fired from ships or submarines. The country would have to adapt infrastructure to launch it from land.
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