WASHINGTON (AP) — The President donald trump talking to russia Vladimir Putin He said on Thursday that he was considering Ukraine’s long-range missile push.
In a post on Truth Social late Thursday morning, Trump said he had a lengthy phone conversation with Putin and would provide an update on the conversation once the meeting concluded.
The call came ahead of President Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian president at the White House on Friday. Volodymyr ZelenskyHe has been pressuring Trump to sell Kiev Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukraine’s military to strike deep into Russian territory. Mr. Zelensky argued that such attacks would help Mr. Putin take more seriously Mr. Trump’s call for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.
President Trump told reporters accompanying him to Israel on Sunday: We are going to discuss the Tomahawks. as a way to pressure Putin to end the Russia’s Ukraine war. President Trump said Sunday: “Do they want to move Tomahawk in that direction? I don’t think so.” “I think I might try talking to Russia about that.”
It’s fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage agreement President Trump said he is now focused on ending the war in Ukraine. Metering providing long-range weapons in Kiev Because he aims to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are central to President Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, in which he relentlessly insults the president joe biden For his handling of conflict. But like his predecessor, Trump faces the following challenges: president putin He unsuccessfully pressured the Russian leader to meet directly. Zelensky To end the war, which is now in its fourth year.
But fresh out of the Gaza ceasefire, President Trump is expressing new confidence that he can finally make progress toward ending Russian aggression. It has also signaled that it is prepared to increase pressure on Putin if he does not come to the table soon.
President Trump welcomed supporters of the White House Ballroom Project to a lavish dinner Wednesday night and said of the Russia-Ukraine war, “Interestingly, we’ve moved forward today because of what happened in the Middle East.”
in Jerusalem earlier this week. in a speech in parliamentPresident Trump predicted that a ceasefire in Gaza would lay the groundwork for the United States to help normalize relations with Israel and many of its Middle East neighbors. But President Trump also made clear that his top foreign policy priority now is to end the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
President Trump told the envoy: “First we have to end Russia.” Steve Witkoffalso served as the regime’s chief interlocutor with President Putin. “We have to finish it. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. Okay?”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint press conference with President of the European Parliament Roberta Mezzola, Wednesday, September 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
President Trump considers Tomahawks on Ukraine
President Trump is scheduled to welcome Zelenskiy to the meeting on Friday, marking the fourth face-to-face meeting between the two this year.
Prior to the meeting, President Trump said he was considering selling Kiev’s Tomahawk long-range cruise missile. President Putin has made it clear that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine would cross a red line and further deteriorate relations between Russia and the United States.
But Trump was undaunted.
“He wants a tomahawk,” President Trump said of Zelenskiy on Tuesday. “There are a lot of tomahawks.”
Mark Montgomery, an analyst at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said agreeing to sell the Ukrainian Tomahawk would be a flashy move. But it could take years to supply and train Kiev tomahawk system.
Mr. Montgomery said that Ukraine is using extended range attack munitions (ERAM) and missiles Army Tactical Missile System known as ATACMS. The US already approved the sale of up to 3,350 ERAMs to Kiev earlier this year.
The Tomahawk has a range of about 995 miles (1,600 km), allowing Ukraine to strike much deeper into Russian territory than ERAM (285 miles, 460 km) and ATACMS (186 miles, 300 km).
“Providing the Tomahawk is as much a political decision as it is a military one,” Montgomery said. “Although ERAM has a short range, it can help put pressure on Russia in terms of operations, logistics, command and control, and force distribution within hundreds of kilometers of the front lines. It can be very effective.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a cabinet meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Wednesday, October 15, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo, via AP)
Signs the White House is interested in new Russia sanctions
Zelensky is expected to once again appeal to President Trump to damage Russia’s economy with further sanctions, but Republicans have so far appeared reluctant to do so.
While Congress is considering legislation that would tighten sanctions against Russia, President Trump is primarily focused on pressuring NATO members and other allies to stop buying Russian oil, which powers Russia’s war machine. To that end, President Trump said Wednesday that India, which became one of Russia’s biggest buyers of crude oil after its invasion of Ukraine, had agreed. Stop buying oil from Moscow.
Waiting for President Trump’s blessing is a bill in the Senate that would impose hefty tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports, with the aim of economically paralyzing Moscow.
Although the president has not formally supported the bill, and Republican leaders have no plans to move it forward without his support, the White House has been increasing interest in the bill behind the scenes in recent weeks.
Administration officials thoroughly reviewed the bill, suggesting line edits and requesting technical changes, according to two officials familiar with the White House and Senate discussions. This was interpreted on Capitol Hill as a sign that President Trump is getting more serious about the bill, which he is co-sponsoring with close allies Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.C.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
A White House official said the administration is working with lawmakers to ensure that “the proposed legislation advances the president’s foreign policy goals and authority.” The official, who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said any sanctions would need to give the president “complete flexibility.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the administration is waiting for further buy-in from Europe, which faces a greater threat from Russian aggression than the United States.
“All I hear from Europeans is that President Putin is coming to Warsaw,” Bessent said. “There are very few things in life that I am sure of. There is no doubt that he will not come to Boston. So if a European partner joins us, we will comply.”
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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein, Chris Megerian and Didi Tan contributed to this report.
