Trump Encouraged Ukraine To Strike Moscow "To Ramp Up Pressure On Putin"

Multiple sources are reporting that Donald Trump questioned Ukrainian President Zelensky about why Ukraine had not attacked Moscow and St Petersburg more frequently and harshly, then urged him to do so in order to increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. 

The US may consider sending Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine to help them fulfill that task, though prudent observers believe the leak of this conversation is meant to send a message to Putin without actually giving Ukraine the weapons needed to make such an attack. JL

Arpan Rai and Alex Croft report in The Independent:

Donald Trump privately discussed striking Moscow with Volodymyr Zelensky. The US president encouraged Kyiv to step up strikes deep in Russian territory. In a recent phone call, Mr Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart why he had not struck Moscow to ramp up the pressure on the Kremlin. “We can, if you give us the weapons," Mr Zelensky responded. The US may considering sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, one of the weapons used by the US in its strikes on Iran last month

Donald Trump has privately discussed striking Moscow with Volodymyr Zelensky, as he considers whether to send long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, according to reports.

In a recent phone call, Mr Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart why he had not struck Moscow to ramp up the pressure on the Kremlin. “We can, if you give us the weapons," Mr Zelensky responded, a source told the The Washington Post.

The US president has privately encouraged Kyiv to step up strikes deep in Russian territory, the Financial Times reported.

 

He is considering sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, one of the weapons used by the US in its dramatic strikes on Iran last month, according to the Post.

Mr Trump has committed billions of dollars of American weapons to Ukraine, a significant boost to Ukraine’s war effort and the relationship between Kyiv and Washington.

The medium-to-long-range cruise missiles could reach Moscow - but they are not currently on the list of supplies the US is due to send.

It comes after the US president said he is “disappointed but not done” with Russian president Vladimir Putin after threatening 100 per cent secondary tariffs on Moscow if it fails to agree a peace deal within 50 days.