Donald Trump has privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russian territory, even asking Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether he could strike Moscow if the US provided long-range weapons, according to people briefed on the discussions.<\/p>\n
The conversation, which took place during the July 4 call between the US and Ukrainian leaders, marks a sharp departure from Trump\u2019s previous stance on Russia\u2019s war<\/a> and his campaign promise to end US involvement in foreign conflicts. <\/p>\n While it remains unclear whether Washington will deliver such weapons, the discussion underscores Trump\u2019s deepening frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s refusal to engage in ceasefire talks proposed by the US president, who once vowed to resolve the war in a day.<\/p>\n The conversation with Zelenskyy on July 4 was precipitated by Trump\u2019s call with Putin a day earlier, which the US president described as \u201cbad\u201d.<\/p>\n Two people familiar with the conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy said the US president had asked his Ukrainian counterpart whether he could hit military targets deep inside Russia if he provided weapons capable of doing so. <\/p>\n \u201cVolodymyr, can you hit Moscow?\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009Can you hit St Petersburg too?\u201d\u00a0Trump asked on the call, according to the people.<\/p>\n They said Zelenskyy replied: \u201cAbsolutely. We can if you give us the weapons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump signalled his backing for the idea, describing the strategy as intended to \u201cmake them [Russians] feel the pain\u201d and force the Kremlin to the negotiating table, according to the two people briefed on the call.<\/p>\n A western official, who had been informed of the call, said the conversation reflected a growing desire among Ukraine\u2019s western partners to supply long-range weapons capable of \u201cbringing the war to Muscovites\u201d \u2014 a sentiment echoed privately by American officials in recent weeks.<\/p>\n The White House and Ukraine\u2019s presidential office did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n The discussion between Trump and Zelenskyy led to a list of potential weapons for Kyiv being shared by the US side with the Ukrainian president in Rome last week, according to three people with knowledge of it. <\/p>\n During a meeting with US defence officials and intermediaries from Nato governments, Zelenskyy received a list of long-range strike systems that potentially could be made available to Ukraine via third-party transfers. <\/p>\n The arrangement would allow Trump to circumvent the current congressional freeze on direct US military aid by authorising weapons sales to European allies, who would then pass the systems on to Kyiv.<\/p>\n The Ukrainians had asked for Tomahawk missiles, precision strike cruise missiles with a range of around 1,600km. But the Trump administration \u2014 like the Biden administration \u2014 had concerns about Ukraine\u2019s lack of restraint, said a person familiar with the list shared with Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n During a meeting in the Oval Office with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte on Monday, Trump announced<\/a> a plan to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defence systems and interceptor missiles but did not disclose any shipments of other weapons systems.<\/p>\n The US president said he was \u201cvery unhappy\u201d with Russia and its president over the lack of progress towards a deal to end its war. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in President [Vladimir] Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia\u2019s security council and a former stand-in president for Putin, shrugged off Trump\u2019s decision. \u201cTrump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009Russia didn\u2019t care,\u201d Medvedev wrote on X.<\/p>\n Two of the people briefed on the call between Trump and Zelenskyy and familiar with US-Ukraine discussions on military strategy said that one weapon discussed was the Army Tactical Missile System, or Atacms.<\/p>\n Ukraine has used US-supplied Atacms missiles with a range of up to 300km (186 miles) to strike targets in Russian-occupied territory and, in some cases, deeper inside Russia. The Atacms can be launched from HIMARS rocket systems that the Biden administration delivered to Ukraine. But they do not fly far enough to reach Moscow or St Petersburg.<\/p>\n Russia has repeatedly threatened to attack western targets in response to western supplies of advanced weaponry to Ukraine, but has yet to do so.<\/p>\n After Ukraine first used the Atacms system to strike military targets inside Russian sovereign territory last November, Putin said the war had \u201ctaken on elements of a global nature\u201d and responded by test-firing the Oreshnik, an experimental intermediate-range missile, on the city of Dnipro.<\/p>\n The Russian president said Moscow was entitled to \u201cuse our weaponry against military facilities of countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities, and in the case the aggressive action escalates, we will respond just as decisively and symmetrically\u201d. <\/p>\n Following the Atacms strikes, Russia also published an updated version of its nuclear doctrine that lowered the threshold for potential use. The changes could envision a Russian nuclear first strike against the US, UK and France \u2014 Nato\u2019s three nuclear powers \u2014 in response to Ukraine\u2019s strikes on Russia with weapons such as the Atacms and Storm Shadow missiles.<\/p>\n Washington has at times warned Ukraine off using them to strike deep inside Russia, but those constraints appear to be loosening now.<\/p>\n Ukraine has mostly used its own domestically-produced long-range drones to strike military targets deep inside Russia that help fuel its war machine.<\/p>\n Its most audacious attack came in early June, when Ukraine\u2019s SBU security service launched swarms of suicide drones hidden inside prefabricated homes that it smuggled into Russia and attacked the country\u2019s fleet of strategic bombers. The planes had been used in Moscow\u2019s bombardments of Ukrainian cities throughout the war. At least 12 aircraft were heavily damaged or destroyed in what Kyiv dubbed Operation Spiderweb<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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