Putin threatens further escalation if Ukraine gets U.S. Tomahawk missiles

“Could Tomahawks harm us? Yes. We will shoot them down and improve our air-defense system,” Putin said at the Valdai Discussion Club, as reported by Russian broadcaster TV Rain. 

“Will it damage the [Russia–U.S.] relations in which we finally see some light at the end of the tunnel? Of course it will.”

Putin claimed it would be impossible for Ukraine to fire Tomahawks without direct involvement from U.S. military personnel, calling any such move “an absolutely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation.”

Since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sept. 23, U.S. officials repeatedly said that Washington is considering supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Tomahawks would significantly expand Kyiv’s ability to hit a variety of targets deep inside Russian territory.