Ukraine outraged over leaked call for US to deploy Tomahawk missiles

(Dan Tri) - Ukraine is not happy when information was leaked that they asked the US to place long-range Tomahawk missiles on their territory as a deterrent against potential opponents.

A Tomahawk missile (Photo: US Army).

The recent leak of Kiev's call for the US to place Tomahawk missiles on Ukrainian territory represents a breach of confidentiality between Kiev and its Western partners, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 30.

"But this is classified information between Ukraine and the White House... How to understand these messages? That means there is no such thing as classified information between partners," Mr. Zelensky said.

His comments came after the New York Times , citing senior US officials, reported that Mr Zelensky had asked Washington to deploy Tomahawk missiles in Ukraine as part of a "non-nuclear deterrence package" in his victory plan.

The victory plan proposed by Zelensky includes five points with three classified annexes, including a request for NATO to immediately invite Ukraine to join, lifting restrictions on long-range weapons aid. Zelensky also proposed that the West "deploy a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrent" on Ukrainian soil to send a message to Russia.

The Tomahawk missile has a range of more than 2,400km, about 7 times the range of the long-range ATACMS missile that Ukraine previously received from the US.

According to the source, US officials have rejected the proposal, describing it as "impossible".

Ukraine has failed to convince Western diplomats why it needs Tomahawks, according to sources. The number of Ukrainian targets in Russia is also believed to far exceed the number of missiles the US can transfer without endangering its interests in the Middle East and Asia.

The Tomahawk was introduced in 1983 and entered combat in 1991 during the Gulf War. This cruise missile is capable of carrying a 450kg warhead or a nuclear warhead. The Tomahawk uses an inertial navigation system and terrain recognition that can automatically adjust its flight path mid-flight based on satellite data.

Tomahawk is highly flexible as it can be launched from fixed launchers or from surface ships or submarines. In addition, by flying at low altitudes at speeds of about 900km/h, Tomahawk missiles can overcome most conventional radar and air defense systems.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ukraine-bat-binh-vi-bi-lo-tin-keu-goi-my-trien-khai-ten-lua-tomahawk-20241031084804426.htm