US Weighs Supplying Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine

The United States is considering a Ukrainian request for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to bolster Kyiv’s defenses against the Russian invasion, according to remarks by US Vice President J.D. Vance on Fox News Sunday.

Vance said President Donald Trump will make the final decision on whether to permit the transfer.

The proposal follows a direct appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who asked the US to authorize the sale of Tomahawks to European governments that would then forward the systems to Ukraine. 

Tomahawk missiles have a range of up to about 2,500 kilometers, a capability that would significantly extend Kyiv’s strike envelope.

Vance said Washington is reviewing multiple requests from European partners and weighing strategic and political implications. If approved, the weapons would represent a major escalation in the conflict and would almost certainly provoke a strong response from Moscow.

The prospect of supplying long-range strike systems marks a shift from earlier US policy. Former refusals to provide deep-strike munitions reflected concerns about escalating the war, but proponents argue that extended-range capabilities are now necessary to deter and degrade Russian military capacity.

Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy to Ukraine, indicated in a subsequent interview that the administration is open to enabling Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russia, saying there should be no notion of a sanctuary beyond reach.

Analysts caution that deploying Tomahawks to Ukraine would carry significant operational, logistical, and geopolitical consequences: it would require training, secure basing, and robust air-and-sea integration, and it would heighten the risk of broader confrontation between NATO-aligned states and Russia. Kremlin officials have historically treated the transfer of long-range strike weapons as a red line.

For Kyiv, the addition of Tomahawks would be a force multiplier, providing long-range precision strike options against command nodes, logistics hubs, and air defenses far beyond front-line battlefields. 

For NATO partners, the arrangement Zelensky proposed, purchases routed through European states, would be a way to supply capabilities while framing transfers as allied assistance rather than direct US-to-Ukraine sales.

President Trump’s eventual decision will be closely watched in capitals across Europe and Moscow, where officials have already warned that deliveries of longer-range Western weapons would trigger countermeasures. The White House has not announced a timeline for a decision.