WASHINGTON — Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin “is in a weak position” and fearful that the US will finally send Ukraine some Tomahawk missiles that can cut deep into Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.
Zelensky had met with President Trump on Friday — a day after Trump held a call with Putin — and pushed to buy the much-sought-after long-range missiles, although he left the White House meeting empty-handed.
“For today, it’s good again that he didn’t say no,” Zelensky told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referring to Trump.
“The Tomahawks, it’s very sensitive for Russians,” Zelensky said. “I think that Putin [is] afraid that [the] United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he’s really afraid that we will use [them].”
Tomahawk missiles would enable Ukraine to hit critical Russian military, logistical and energy targets deep inside its own turf, potentially undermining its war machine significantly.
The US has more than a thousand Tomahawks available, though some experts believe Washington would only spare 20 to 50 of them for Ukraine, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Selling the Ukrainians Tomahawks could mark a dramatic escalation in the war.
In September, during his visit to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump publicly ripped Russia as a “paper tiger” and mused that Ukraine could “win all of Ukraine back in its original form” and perhaps go even further.
Putin had vexed Trump when the two had a summit in Alaska in August aimed at winding down the war, with the Russian dictator only later continuing to ramp up his offense in Ukraine.
Then after Trump’s call with Putin on Thursday, the president appeared to warm up to Russia’s perspective that it has the upper hand on the battlefield and revealed plans to met with the Kremlin strongman in Budapest.
But Zelensky said Sunday, “We are not losing this war, and Putin is not winning.
“And really, his army now [is] in a weak position. I think so, because they really from the beginning of this war, they could occupy 1% of our land, but they spent 1,300,000 people, and I think this is high price, yes, for such land.
“On the battlefield, he’s not winning. That’s why he really escalates airstrikes,” Zelensky said. “He wants [a] disaster — [an] energy disaster during this winter by attacking us, each day 500 Iranian drones and 20 to 30 missiles.
“That’s why we need air defense and long-range. He has to feel what we feel.”
Zelensky expressed optimism that Trump has the power to end the bloody war that has ravaged his country for more than three years.
“God bless, yes,” Zelenksy replied when asked about Trump’s chances at helping to end the conflict.
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