Foreign media: "Zelensky asked Trump for Tomahawk support 'capable of striking Moscow'"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, reportedly met President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the 23rd (local time) and asked for support of the United States' long-range cruise missile, the Tomahawk, Axios reported on the 26th.

In an interview with Axios released that day, President Zelenskyy, asked "what is the one tangible thing President Trump must provide for us to win on the battlefield," said, "President Trump knows, and I asked for the one thing we need."

He added, "I cannot say what it is, but I can say that President Trump replied, 'I'll consider it.'"

Zelenskyy said, "We need it, but that does not mean we would use it. If we have it, it would be additional pressure to get Putin to sit at the negotiating table (to discuss ending the war in Ukraine)."

Zelenskyy did not name the weapon, but Axios, citing Ukrainian officials and sources familiar with the Trump-Zelensky meeting, confirmed it was the long-range precision-guided cruise missile Tomahawk.

The Tomahawk has a range of up to 1,500 miles (about 2,400 km), making it capable of striking deep inside the Russian mainland, including Moscow.

Zelenskyy told Russia, "They will have to identify shelter locations. They will be needed anyway if they do not stop the war," adding, "They must know that if they attack us, we will certainly respond."

Axios noted it is unclear whether the United States will supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Ukraine has requested Tomahawk support from the U.S. several times over the past year, but the Tomahawk was the only weapon that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which buys U.S.-made weapons on behalf of Ukraine, had not agreed to sell.

The outlet said, "U.S. officials may be concerned both that selling missiles that include Moscow within their range could escalate the conflict, and that Tomahawk stocks are quite limited and would take several months to replenish after use."

Ko Jeong-sam Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com