US Has Not Approved Long-Range Missile Strikes by Ukraine, Trump Says

President Donald Trump on Oct. 22 refuted a news report stating that the United States had allegedly approved the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike deep into Russia.

In a post on social media, the president said: “The Wall Street Journal story on the U.S.A.’s approval of Ukraine being allowed to use long range missiles deep into Russia is fake news! The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them!”

When asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he was refuting the news report claiming that the United States had lifted the key restriction on European missiles, Trump said no.

“It said that I gave Ukraine permission to shoot missiles deep into Russia,” he said. “I didn’t do that.”

He then said that Ukraine is not using U.S. missiles.

“They’re using, I think, European missiles from someplace, but they’re not using ours,” he said. “And what they do, I don’t control that, but I do control our missiles.

“They’re not shooting our missiles. And it was a fake story.”

Ukraine’s military on Oct. 21 stated that it had used Franco–British Storm Shadow air-launched missiles to strike a chemical plant in Russia’s southern Bryansk region. The facility was used by Russia to produce gunpowder, explosives, and rocket fuel, and Ukraine considered it a “key facility” in the Kremlin’s war effort.

Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region, said on Telegram that the region had come under attack by Ukrainian drones and missiles on the afternoon of Oct. 21. He said no one was injured in the attack and no damage was reported.

The Epoch Times has not been able to verify the reports.

The reporting came after Trump earlier in October tried to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine, saying he was considering whether to approve Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles.

Then, in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Oct. 17 following what he called a “very productive” Oct. 16 phone call with Putin, Trump expressed hopes that he would be able to resolve the Russia–Ukraine war without sending Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said the meeting with Trump was “positive” despite not getting approval for the use of the Tomahawks.

Trump also told reporters on Oct. 22, during a visit by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, that even if the United States were to give Ukraine access to its Tomahawk missiles, it would take some time for it to use the weapon.

“The problem with the Tomahawk that a lot of people don’t know: It’ll take a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use them,” Trump said. “They’re highly complex.”

He said the United States was not going to launch a Tomahawk missile on behalf of Ukraine.

“The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it,” he said. “And we’re not going to do that.

“But there is a tremendous learning curve with a Tomahawk.

“It’s a very powerful weapon, very accurate weapon, and maybe that’s what makes it so complex. It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it. And we know how to use it. And we’re not going to be teaching other people. … It’s too far out into the future.”

On Oct. 22, Russia conducted a test launch of its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles.

Victoria Friedman and Reuters contributed to this report.