Trump’s Tomahawk warning to Putin ignites furious Kremlin backlash and WW3 escalation fears

Tensions between Washington and Moscow soared on Sunday after US President Donald Trump threatened to arm Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles — a move the Kremlin branded as dangerously provocative and capable of sparking “catastrophic escalation.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Israel, Trump warned he could approve the delivery of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin refuses to end the war. “I might say, ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,’” he declared. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon — very offensive. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”

His comments came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged stronger US military backing during a private call over the weekend. Kyiv has repeatedly pressed Washington for longer-range firepower to counter Russia’s air and missile superiority.

The Kremlin’s reaction was immediate — and ominous. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the situation as “a very dramatic moment,” warning that such rhetoric risked plunging the world into chaos. “Just imagine: a long-range missile is launched and flying, and we know that it could be nuclear. What should Russia think? How should Russia react?” he asked, in a rare statement hinting at the dangers of miscalculation.

Trump’s proposal would represent an unprecedented escalation in Western support for Ukraine. The Tomahawk missile, first deployed in the 1991 Gulf War, has a range of up to 1,550 miles and carries a warhead weighing nearly half a ton. The weapon was last used by the US in strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, and is widely regarded as one of the most advanced tools in the Pentagon’s arsenal.

Despite acknowledging the risks, Trump appeared undeterred. “Do they [Russia] want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” he said, hinting that his strategy was designed to force Putin into negotiations. Yet he conceded that supplying such missiles to Ukraine would amount to “a new step of aggression.”

Zelensky, speaking to Fox News, sought to reassure Washington that Ukraine would use the missiles responsibly. “We never attacked their civilians. This is the big difference between Ukraine and Russia,” he said. “If we speak about long-range missiles, we speak only about military goals.”

The Kremlin, however, dismissed those assurances. Peskov said foreign military experts should understand the implications of deploying long-range American weapons so close to Russian territory. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev went further, mocking Trump as a “star-spangled uncle” and warning that “the delivery of these missiles could end badly for everyone — and most of all, for Trump himself.”

Last week, Russian state television presenter Vladimir Solovyov compared the current crisis to the 1962 Cuban Missile standoff, when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. He suggested that sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would risk “an outcome even worse” than that Cold War confrontation.

The latest exchange underscores the perilous state of global diplomacy as the Ukraine conflict drags into another bitter winter. Both sides appear locked in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship, where each warning and counter-warning carries the potential for catastrophic misjudgement.

As Air Force One touched down in Israel, Trump’s words echoed across world capitals — a blunt reminder that the battle for Ukraine’s future has once again become a flashpoint for potential world war.