Will Zelenskyy Want the U.S. "Tomahawk" Cruise Missiles, and Will Trump Dare to Give Them?

According to Reuters, on the 28th, U.S. Vice President Vance once again responded, stating that the U.S. is considering Ukraine's request for "Tomahawk" cruise missiles, with Trump making the final decision.

During this year's UN General Assembly, Zelenskyy met with Trump and proposed that the U.S. should provide Ukraine with "Tomahawk" cruise missiles to force Putin to sit at the negotiating table to discuss a peace agreement.

A year has passed, but Zelenskyy hasn't given up on his desire for the "Tomahawk."

After the meeting, Zelenskyy told the media that Trump had "agreed to his request," but now Vance's statement clearly means that Zelenskyy was "faced with embarrassment," as Trump has yet to make a decision on delivering the "Tomahawk" missiles.

This is not the first time that Zelenskyy has tried to obtain the U.S. "Tomahawk" cruise missiles. Last year, he had also asked Biden to provide the "Tomahawk" and submitted a list of targets inside Russia, meaning that if Biden approved his request, Ukraine would attack the targets on the list with missiles.

However, Zelenskyy's ambitions go further. According to The New York Times, Zelenskyy also wants to use the "Tomahawk" to attack Iran remotely, arguing that Iran has provided drones to Russia.

Therefore, given Zelenskyy's crazy ideas, it is no surprise that Biden refused the request, which left Zelenskyy grumbling behind the scenes about the United States.

Did Biden dare to do something, will Trump dare to do it?

In short, despite the passage of a year, Zelenskyy's basic idea hasn't changed much — using the range of the "Tomahawk" that can reach the Ural Mountains to force Putin to negotiate and threaten Russia to make concessions in the negotiation conditions.

For example, Zelenskyy once claimed that if Ukraine obtained such weapons, they might consider attacking targets like the Kremlin.

It should be said that Zelenskyy's position fits Trump's taste, because it is essentially Trump's usual "maximum pressure" tactic: before taking action, you first make a bold show, trying to scare the other party into yielding.

Therefore, Vance said that "Trump is considering Zelenskyy's request," trying to send a threat signal to Russia — "if Putin doesn't agree to a ceasefire, the U.S. will provide Ukraine with 'Tomahawk' missiles." After all, the war between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on so long without achieving peace, and Trump's face is also at stake.

Western countries have indeed provided a batch of cruise missiles, but have not dared to allow Ukraine to attack targets within Russia so far.

Of course, Putin has already warned beforehand about the small calculations of the U.S. and Ukraine — last year, he warned that if Ukraine used missiles provided by the U.S. and Western countries to attack targets within Russia, it would be equivalent to NATO launching a war against Russia.

It is worth noting that although the U.S. and Western countries have repeatedly broken Russia's "red line" in military aid to Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, they have not yet dared to cross the "war red line" that Putin has drawn.

For example, the U.S. provides the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine, which is still restricted from being used to attack targets within Russia; while German Chancellor Merkel has claimed that she will no longer limit the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine, but has not delivered the "Taurus" cruise missiles with a range exceeding 500 kilometers, only making a verbal commitment.

Therefore, it is still unclear whether Trump will really dare to provide Ukraine with "Tomahawk" cruise missiles, and whether he will restrict the use of the missiles after delivery.

Why does Ukraine not use the "Firebird" with a range of 3000 km, but insists on using the American "Tomahawk"?

If the U.S. requires Ukraine not to use the "Tomahawk" to attack targets within Russia, then even if Zelenskyy manages to get the missiles, he won't be able to realize his plan to force Putin back to the negotiating table.

Additionally, from a purely military perspective, Zelenskyy's request for "Tomahawk" missiles also reveals another problem — the Ukrainian domestic "Firebird" missile, which he once praised highly, may not be as reliable as advertised.

After all, the advertised range of the "Firebird" has reached 3000 kilometers, not only surpassing the "Tomahawk" in paper data, but also without the usage restrictions of the U.S. and Western countries — but if the missile is truly effective, Zelenskyy wouldn't have repeatedly asked the U.S. for the "Tomahawk" anymore.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7555397305298371135/

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