Although US President Donald Trump has not yet made a decision to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, the US Department of Defense was fully prepared to put this idea into practice.
William Taylor, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center; former US Ambassador to Ukraine (2006-2009); former US Chargé d'Affaires to Ukraine (2019-2020) has stated this.
He expressed this opinion during the EEF Talk session organized by the Eastern Europe Foundation.
While reflecting on various aspects of US assistance to Ukraine and the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to end the war, Taylor touched upon the issue of US arms shipments to Ukraine.
"And I will tell you that the Pentagon, our Department of Defense, was ready for the president's decision to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. They were ready. There is no question of limiting the stockpile of these missiles," Taylor assured.
He added that Trump did not decide to take this step, but the decision "can still be made."
"I think it would be important - even if it wouldn't be a game-changer, it would be an important component of putting pressure on Putin," Taylor said.
The former American Ambassador to Ukraine also reminded that the Trump administration has now moved from giving to selling weapons to Ukraine, including at the expense of NATO countries. Taylor expressed his belief that such an approach may be more "sustainable" for the current US presidential administration, as then the White House would not need to seek permission from Congress to provide defense assistance to Ukraine, which the Trump administration prefers not to do.
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