Kyiv formally requested the Tomahawks, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirmed the U.S. government is reviewing the request.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that any U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles would mark a dangerous escalation in the conflict and inflict lasting damage on relations between Moscow and Washington.
Putin made the remarks in an Oct. 2 appearance at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, amid reports that the United States is considering a Ukrainian request for Tomahawks, which, with a range of 1,550 miles, could easily reach Moscow if launched from Ukraine.
Putin said the potential transfer of Tomahawks would represent a “completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States.”
While acknowledging the missiles could cause damage if deployed by Kyiv, Putin said Russia’s air defenses would quickly adapt.
“It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield,” he said, adding that Russian forces were continuing to push forward and make battlefield gains in Ukraine.
Kyiv has formally requested the Tomahawks, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirmed that the U.S. government is reviewing the request, with U.S. President Donald Trump expected to make the final decision on whether to supply the long-range weapons.
“We’re looking at it. We’re certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans,” Vance told Fox News.
“What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest of the United States of America.”
Putin also used the forum to respond to Trump’s own criticism, after the U.S. president recently described Russia as a “paper tiger” for failing to defeat its smaller neighbor after nearly four years of fighting.
“We are fighting against the entire bloc of NATO and we keep moving, keep advancing and feel confident,” Putin said, asking that if Russia is a paper tiger, then “what is NATO itself?”
“A paper tiger? Go and deal with this paper tiger then,” the Russian leader added.
Kremlin officials have echoed Putin’s warning.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said that any transfer of Tomahawks would be a “dangerous” move that could not go unanswered.
“Indeed, representatives of the U.S. leadership spoke in an interview this week about possible supplies of such missiles and, generally, quite admitted the possibility of strikes deep inside Russian territory,” Peskov said, according to state-run news agency Tass.
“This is, of course, quite a dangerous symptom, and it cannot be unnoticed by Moscow.”
Peskov also accused Washington and its allies of already playing a direct role in Ukraine’s strikes against Russia.
While responding to a question about media reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters that Washington is considering giving Kyiv more specific long-range targeting data on Russian energy infrastructure, Peskov said that NATO and the United States already provide Ukraine with regular battlefield intelligence.
“The supply and use of the entire infrastructure of NATO and the United States to collect and transfer intelligence to Ukrainians is obvious,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
The White House has not commented on Peskov’s claims or confirmed whether the U.S. government is considering the provision of intelligence for strikes deep into Russian territory.
