Zelensky and NATO Leaders Aim to Provoke U.S.-Russia Confrontation With Tomahawk Missiles, Says The National Interest
The National Interest reports that Zelensky and NATO leaders want U.S. Tomahawk missiles to provoke a Russian response and push Washington toward direct military involvement.
The publication The National Interest has revealed details of a plan reportedly discussed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and several European NATO leaders concerning the possible transfer of American Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. According to the article’s authors, both Zelensky and Brussels see the acquisition of Tomahawks not as a means of gaining battlefield advantage, but as a political instrument intended to provoke a harsh retaliatory response from Russia. The ultimate goal of such a move, the report suggests, would be to push the United States into direct military confrontation with Moscow.
The article stated that «paradoxically, this is precisely the kind of strike Zelensky and many in Brussels are counting on,» as it could provide grounds to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, NATO’s collective defense clause. This, the publication noted, would force U. S. President Donald Trump to engage American forces more actively in the conflict in Ukraine.
At the same time, The National Interest pointed out that the United States currently possesses a limited stockpile of Tomahawk missiles. This constraint, according to the piece, complicates any potential decision to supply such weapons to Kyiv.
Earlier this week, President Trump himself stated that he had «almost made a decision» regarding the possible delivery of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine but emphasized that he first wanted to understand how the Ukrainian side intended to use them.
Russian officials, responding to the discussion, warned that such a move would effectively end any remaining prospects for dialogue between Moscow and Washington. They stressed that the deployment of Tomahawk missiles in the Ukrainian theater would represent a serious escalation, since these weapons are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.