Disappointment in Ukraine as possibility of obtaining Tomahawk missiles remains uncertain

Kyiv residents expressed disappointment Saturday after US President Donald Trump signalled he was leaning against selling long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

Trump said on Friday he hopes Tomahawks won’t be needed in peace efforts aimed at Putin and ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, the fifth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelenskyy since January.

“Hopefully, we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks", Trump said, adding that the US needs its Tomahawks and “a lot of other weapons that we're sending to Ukraine.”

Ukrainians believe the missiles could be a game changer in helping bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. Therefore, Trump's latest rhetoric on Tomahawks sparked disappointment for some.

"I guess it was just a game... However we would really need them to make an end of this war,” said Roman Vynnychenko, a Ukrainian military serviceman.

"We are at war for more than three years, we just want peace," said Victoria Khramtsova, a psychologist in Kyiv. "I try to focus on my work for children and that gives me the strength to move on and not to lose hope for better."

Change in tone from Trump

Zelenskyy at the start of the White House talks said he had a "proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise missiles.

But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the US supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to help Ukraine beat back Russia's invasion.

Trump's tone on the Ukrainian war shifted again after he held a lengthy phone call with Putin on Thursday and announced that he planned to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.

Putin warned Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,” according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser.

"Everyday civilians and soldiers die, buildings collapse, our streets and cities are being destroyed,” Vynnychenko added, stressing the urgent need for the missiles.

In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, even as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.