US President Donald Trump has announced that if Russia does not go to the settlement of the war, the United States may transfer Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, to which the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, has stated that sending Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv could end badly.
Radar Armenia spoke to political scientist Armen Vardanyan on the topic.
-How would you comment on the statement that US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of transferring Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, subject to negotiations with Russia?
-In general, this will be severe pressure on Russia. The goal is to put pressure on Russia and make concessions, but I do not think that this will stop Putin, because he is a gambler and, in my opinion, will go to the end, up to the destruction of Russia, but he is not ready to stop the war at this stage.
-The Ukrainian president has stated that if they receive the missiles, they will never be used against civilians. What tactical changes could occur in the context of the war?
-They will be used to strike deep into Russia's rear. Of course, they will not hit the civilian population; there is no point in that. These are pretty expensive missiles, and there is no point in hitting a building. They will hit strategic facilities, and not only military, but also oil and gas refining facilities, since Zelensky stated that Russia uses its oil and gas revenues to continue the war.
-The Russian Federation has responded to all this. In particular, Peskov said that the transfer of these missiles "could end badly" for US-Russian relations. What consequences could it have?
-They are simply threatening, but I think that they cannot influence Trump with words alone, because Trump has made so many efforts to stop the war, but Russia is not responding to those efforts, and at this point, such threats alone will no longer work. The US is expecting concrete steps from Russia to stop the war. And if these missiles are transferred, most likely, US-Russian relations will worsen.
Lilit Abrahamyan
