Donald Trump asked Volodymyr Zelensky to consider attacking Moscow and St. Petersburg, and they discussed what additional American weapons Ukraine would need to do this, sources familiar with the July 4 phone conversation between the American and Ukrainian presidents told the Financial Times.
On Monday, Trump announced that he would provide Patriot air defense systems and interceptor missiles to Ukraine (this in itself is a very significant step, if it actually happens: the US president promised 16 Patriots, while in the three and a half years since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has received a total of seven so far), but there has been no public mention of other weapons systems.
However, in the background, according to FT sources, long-range weapons are also being discussed that could be used by the Ukrainians to attack Moscow and other major Russian cities. It is not known whether Trump is seriously considering handing over the weapons, or whether he himself considers this to be too dangerous, a step that could lead to a potential escalation, and whether he only wants to put pressure on Russia with the leak.
Until now, Ukraine has typically used its own drones against Russian military targets. The most audacious attack occurred just a month ago, in early June, when the Ukrainian secret service, the SBU, attacked Russian strategic bombers with kamikaze drones, causing serious damage to at least 12 of them.
Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to end the war in a single day and end US involvement in foreign conflicts. But he has since grown increasingly frustrated with Putin's mock negotiations, saying he is disappointed in the Russian president and threatening to impose 100 percent"secondary tariffs" on other countries trading with Russia if an agreement to end the war in Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
While Trump has already made a public promise to NATO President Mark Rutte about Patriots, which are very important for Ukrainian air defense, in the background, according to Financial Times informants, there is also talk of strengthening Ukrainian offensive capabilities to a level that has so far been far beyond the (constantly moving) red line since the full-scale Russian invasion.
The immediate antecedent of the phone call with Zelensky in early July was that Trump also spoke with Putin, calling the conversation downright bad. According to two sources familiar with the call, Trump then asked Zelensky:
“Volodymyr, could you find Moscow?... And St. Petersburg too?”
To which Zelensky said:
“Absolutely. If you give us the weapons, we can do it.”
Trump then, according to FT sources, expressed his support for the idea and said the goal was to inflict pain on the Russian side and thereby force the Kremlin to the negotiating table.
Following the meeting, the Americans also gave Zelensky a list of potential weapons at a conference on Ukraine reconstruction in Rome, three sources familiar with the matter said. The Ukrainian president met with mediators from NATO countries and US defense officials in Rome and was given a list of long-range strike weapons. The weapons could be delivered to Ukraine via a third country, thus circumventing a decision by the US Congress to freeze military aid.
According to the FT, Ukraine has asked for Tomahawk drones, among other things, with a range of 1,600 km, which would be enough to reach Moscow and St. Petersburg. New ATACMS were also reportedly discussed. Ukraine already used these smaller, 300 km range American missiles against Russian targets last November - the Russian response at the time was to demonstratively deploy experimental, medium-range Oresnik missiles, modify the nuclear doctrine, and Putin spoke of the war"taking on a global character."
Whether the potential arms transfer is a realistic scenario is hard to say at this point. The FT understands that while Trump raised the issue, he also expressed concerns about Ukrainian risk-taking. Neither the White House nor the Ukrainian presidential office responded to questions from the newspaper.
