Overview

• At the Valdai forum, Vladimir Putin called Tomahawk missiles powerful but not modern and said their delivery to Kyiv would not change the balance on the front.
• Putin warned that any Ukrainian use of Tomahawks would damage Russia–U.S. relations and would represent a qualitatively new stage of escalation.
• Russia’s president asserted the missiles could not be employed from Ukraine without direct participation of U.S. military personnel, and said Russia would try to shoot them down though they could cause damage.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled U.S. talk of supplying Tomahawks and allowing deep strikes into Russia a dangerous symptom that would require an adequate response from Moscow.
• White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said the U.S. will keep selling arms to NATO for potential transfer to Ukraine and declined to address Tomahawk deliveries, as earlier comments by U.S. officials indicated the option is under consideration and reporting highlighted Ukraine’s platform constraints.