KEY POINTS
- Tomahawks could strike deep inside Russia, even Moscow
- Peskov warns some variants can carry nuclear warheads
- Putin says US missile supply would mark new escalation stage
MOSCOW: The Kremlin expressed deep concern on Sunday over the potential US supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, warning that the conflict had entered a “dramatic moment” with rising escalation on all fronts.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that before approving the provision of Tomahawks, he wanted to know how Ukraine intended to use them, as he did not wish to intensify the war between Russia and Ukraine.
However, he added that he had “sort of made a decision” on the issue, reports Reuters.
Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 2,500 kilometres, could allow Ukraine to carry out long-range attacks deep inside Russia, including on Moscow.
According to the US Congressional Research Service, some retired versions of the missile are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
“The topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television reporter Pavel Zarubin in remarks published on Sunday.
“Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides.”
Serious confrontation
The war in Ukraine — Europe’s deadliest since the Second World War — has triggered the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Russian officials have stated that they are now engaged in a “hot” conflict with Western powers.
Peskov cautioned that if Tomahawks were launched against Russia, Moscow would need to consider the possibility that some variants could carry nuclear warheads.
“Just imagine: a long-range missile is launched and is flying and we know that it could be nuclear. What should the Russian Federation think? Just how should Russia react? Military experts overseas should understand this,” Peskov said.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said it would be impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct involvement of US military personnel, warning that any such supply to Ukraine would mark a “qualitatively new stage of escalation.”
NATO expansion and interference
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the United States has been assisting Ukraine in carrying out long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for several months.
The report said US intelligence has helped Kyiv plan flight routes, altitude, timing, and mission parameters, enabling Ukrainian long-range one-way attack drones to evade Russian air defences.
Putin has described the war as a turning point in Moscow’s relations with the West, accusing it of humiliating Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union through NATO expansion and interference in what he regards as Russia’s sphere of influence, including Ukraine and Georgia.
Ukraine and its allies, meanwhile, have condemned Moscow’s actions as an imperialist-style land grab, vowing repeatedly to defeat Russian forces.
