The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon fires a Tomahawk land attack missile April 14, 2018. U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kallysta Castillo/Handout via REUTERS
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that, for now, he is not considering a deal that would allow Ukraine to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles for use against Russia.
Trump has been cool to a plan for the United States to sell Tomahawks to NATO nations that would transfer them to Ukraine, saying he does not want to escalate the war.
His latest comments to reporters aboard Air Force One indicate that he remains reluctant.
"No, not really," Trump told reporters as he flew to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida, when asked whether he was considering a deal to sell the missiles. He added, however, that he could change his mind.
Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed the Tomahawk idea when they met at the White House on October 22. Rutte said on Friday that the issue was under review and that it was up to the United States to decide.
Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), long enough to strike deep inside Russia, including Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has requested the missiles, but the Kremlin has warned against any provision of Tomahawks to Ukraine.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jasper Ward and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Sergio Non and Michael Perry)
