Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked President Trump in a closed-door meeting this week to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles to raise the pressure on Russia to end its bloody war — and the commander in chief is “open” to the move, according to reports and The Post’s sources.
The missiles have far more range than any others sent so far by Western allies — and could be key in strongarming President Vladimir Putin into coming to the negotiating table.
“Sending even a single Tomahawk to Ukraine would scare the s–t out of the Russians more than almost anything else we could do,” a senior congressional aide told The Post.
Zelensky meets with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on Sept. 23, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Off/UPI/Shutterstock
President Volodymyr Zelensky is asking for U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles, which have a longer range than Ukraine’s current British Storm Shadow or U.S. ATACM missiles.
Tomahawk missiles can fly between 700 and 1,500 miles, which would put the Kremlin within Ukraine’s reach.
That would dwarf the range of ATACMS — the longest-range US weapons Ukraine has received so far, which fly as far as 190 miles.
Zelensky made the request in a closed-door meeting with Trump amid the annual United Nations General Assembly in Manhattan, he revealed to Axios, though he did not specify the type of weapon he asked for.
A source told the outlet that it was for the long-range missiles and that the US president was amenable to the request.
While Trump was open to the move, he did not commit to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the US-made artillery, a senior US official and Ukrainian official told the Wall Street Journal Friday.
During the sideline discussion at the United Nations, Zelensky asked Trump for more long-range missiles and approval to use such weapons to strike targets on sovereign Russian territory. Trump replied that he didn’t oppose the idea, though both officials said the president didn’t make any commitments to reverse a U.S. ban on such attacks.
A source familiar with the Trump-Zelensky meeting also told The Post that the request was for a weapon that no one else in Europe has, which would fit the Tomahawk.
A tomahawk being launched from a cruiser. APZelensky noted that Ukraine might not even need to deploy the weapons if the request is fulfilled, but rather they could be used to send a message to the flailing Russian army.
“By the way, we need it, but it doesn’t mean that we will use it. Because if we will have it, I think it’s additional pressure on Putin to sit and speak,” he told Axios.
Zelensky had made pleas to President Joe Biden, but the previous administration denied the requests over repeated fears of escalation.
It does not appear that Trump is hindered by the same anxiety, with the president becoming increasingly pro-Ukraine in recent weeks and having repeatedly called for Putin to bring an end to the warfare.
Earlier this week, he dramatically pronounced that Russia is a “paper tiger” based on new US intelligence that shows the Kremlin is spiraling toward economic ruin and battlefield defeat as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
