Trump ‘Not Looking’ to Give Ukraine Missiles Capable of Striking Moscow

President Donald Trump on July 15 said Ukraine should not target Moscow, affirming the White House’s dismissal of reports that he had privately encouraged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to strike the Russian capital using U.S.-supplied weapons.

“No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,” Trump said, responding to a question about whether Zelenskyy should attack the capital or other targets deeper inside Russia. The president made the remarks as he departed the White House for an event in Pittsburgh.

Pressed on whether his administration would provide Ukraine with long-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory, Trump replied, “No, we’re not looking to do that.”

Ukraine has previously received some ATACMS long-range, guided missiles from the Biden administration, but was not permitted to use them on Russian territory until late 2024. Trump had at that time criticized the decision to ease the restrictions.

Trump also emphasized that he wasn’t picking a side in the war, now in its fourth year.

“I’m on nobody’s side,” he told reporters. “You know whose side I’m on? Humanity’s side.”

His comments came after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the topic of strikes on Russian cities did come up during a recent call between Trump and Zelenskyy and has been taken “wildly out of context.”

“President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing,” Leavitt said on July 15 in a statement to multiple media outlets. “He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.”

The phone call in question took place on July 4, according to The Financial Times, which first reported the story, citing two people briefed on the conversation. Trump asked Zelenskyy whether Ukraine could strike Moscow or St. Petersburg. Zelenskyy is said to have responded that such an attack would be possible if his nation were supplied with appropriate U.S. weapons.

The call occurred a day after Trump expressed disappointment with a separate phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he said did not help bring the war any closer to an end.

The report comes as relations between Washington and Kyiv appear to be improving after months of rocky relations. Speaking at the White House on July 14, Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced a new initiative in which the United States will sell weapons—including Patriot missile systems for air defense—to NATO nations, which in turn will send weapons to Ukraine to replenish its depleted arsenal.

In addition, Trump said that the United States will impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that continue to do business with Russia if a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine is not reached soon.

“We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal within 50 days. It’s very simple,” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Rutte. “And they’ll be at 100 percent and that’s the way it is.”

The Kremlin responded to Trump’s announcements with caution, calling them “serious” and stating that they would need time to “analyze” the implications.

Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, said his country “didn’t care” about the tariff threats in a post on the social media platform X.

“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin,” Medvedev wrote. “The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”