Kremlin warns West over conflict escalation

MOSCOW/KYIV — The Kremlin said on Sunday that Russia was deeply concerned about the possibility of the US supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, warning that the conflict had reached a dramatic moment with escalation from all sides.

US President Donald Trump said last Monday that before agreeing to provide Tomahawks, he would want to know what Ukraine planned to do with them because he did not want to escalate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He said, however, that he had "sort of made a decision" on the matter.

Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 kilometers, meaning Ukraine would be able to use them for long-range strikes deep inside Russia, including Moscow. Some retired variants of Tomahawks can carry a nuclear warhead, according to the US Congressional Research Service.

"The topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television reporter Pavel Zarubin in remarks published on Sunday. "Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that it was impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of US military personnel and so any supply of such missiles to Ukraine would trigger a "qualitatively new stage of escalation".

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the US has been helping Ukraine mount long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities for months.

The FT said US intelligence helps Kyiv shape route planning, altitude, timing and mission decisions, enabling Ukraine's long-range, one-way attack drones to evade Russian air defenses.

The White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office and Ukraine's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian foreign ministry.

Zelensky said on Saturday that he discussed the possibility of bolstering his country's air defense in a phone call with Trump.

"I informed President Trump about Russia's attacks on our energy system, and I appreciate his willingness to support us," Zelensky said on X.

Last week, Ukraine imposed emergency power outages in Kyiv and nine regions across the country after Russian missile and drone strikes largely targeted the country's energy facilities.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russia has shot down 72 Ukrainian drones and other projectiles over the past 24 hours.

Agencies - Xinhua