by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine was weighing its options Monday after U.S. President Donald J. Trump said he will not currently approve the transfer of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s urgent requests as Russian strikes intensify around Pokrovsk and other eastern front-line areas.
The decision came even though Trump had earlier suggested he was open to providing the weapons following discussions with NATO officials and European leaders. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on November 2, Trump confirmed:
“No, not really… things can change, but at this moment I’m not.”
The Tomahawk is a subsonic cruise missile capable of striking targets between 1,600 and 2,500 kilometers (1,000–1,600 miles) away. Military analysts say that, if approved, such systems would allow Ukraine to hit military targets deep inside Russia, potentially increasing Kyiv’s leverage in future peace negotiations.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any U.S. delivery of Tomahawks would mark a “qualitatively new stage of escalation” in the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Monday that Moscow would view such transfers as “direct U.S. involvement” in hostilities.
KYIV’S REACTION
In Kyiv, officials expressed disappointment. A senior Ukrainian defense source told local media the decision “limits our ability to defend civilians and strike the launch sites that bomb our cities.”
The reaction came as Russian forces continued drone and artillery attacks across the Donetsk region. Over the weekend, local authorities reported nine civilians killed and more than 20 wounded, with widespread damage to energy facilities as winter approaches.
Increasingly, the attacks have been directed at Pokrovsk, a front-line city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region that lies about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk and remains under Ukrainian government control.
The city serves as a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces defending the western Donetsk front and as a vital evacuation and humanitarian corridor for civilians fleeing intense shelling in nearby combat zones, including Avdiivka and Bakhmut.
Once home to roughly 60,000 people, Pokrovsk has come under repeated Russian missile and drone attacks in recent months, damaging residential buildings, hospitals, and power infrastructure. Kyiv says the escalation reflects Moscow’s renewed drive to seize the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of Donetsk Oblast.
ECONOMIC PRESSURE
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine respected Washington’s right to decide on whether to support his nation with Tomahawk missile deliveries but noted that “every day without long-range defense means more Ukrainian lives lost.”
However, Russian officials cautiously welcomed Trump’s restraint. Senior lawmaker Andrei Kartapolov said the statement reflected “a more pragmatic course.”
Yet former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that any eventual transfer of Tomahawks “could end badly for all, especially Trump himself,” implying a risk of nuclear escalation.
As fighting continues, talks have resumed in Europe over using profits from frozen Russian assets to fund military aid for embattled Ukraine, Trump confirmed.
“Europe and Russia are having discussions [about frozen assets]. I’m not involved in those discussions,” Trump stressed.
BILLIONS FROZEN
Roughly $300 billion (about €277 billion) in Russian central bank reserves remain frozen globally, including about $200 billion held by Belgium-based Euroclear, as part of Western sanctions imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Western investigators.
Trump said last week that Western economic pressure on Russia “is working,” while noting that the United States does not conduct significant trade with Moscow.
Yet Christian and church-based organizations have renewed their appeals for diplomacy amid growing concerns about human suffering caused by Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II.
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has urged “intensified international efforts to achieve a just peace,” while the Vatican has called for “paths of dialogue and reconciliation” to end the suffering of civilians.
In a recent statement, the World Council of Churches also encouraged restraint, warning that “further escalation of armed confrontation will only deepen human tragedy and destruction.”
Trump’s latest remarks suggest a pause in U.S. deliberations over supplying long-range weapons but have unsettled European allies, who fear that weakening Western unity could embolden Moscow, according to a Worthy News analysis.
For Kyiv, the decision underscores an increasingly precarious position as Russian strikes intensify and vital Western support appears less certain — leaving Ukraine’s faith and diplomacy tested as the region braces for another bitter winter of war.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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