Latest news with #longrangemissiles
Russia Today
7 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Zelensky urges Trump to revisit Ukrainian missile proposal
Vladimir Zelensky has called on US President Donald Trump to reconsider Ukraine's proposal to host long-range American missiles. The appeal comes in the wake of Trump's pledge this week to provide advanced weapons systems to Kiev, with the caveat that the costs will be covered by other nations. In an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday, Zelensky appealed for even more military aid, referencing part of his 'victory plan,' which he had previously presented to both President Joe Biden and Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election. 'I remember that we had a powerful deterrence package before President Trump became president. I wanted America to sell us such a package. But it was not done,' Zelensky said. Previous media reports have suggested that Trump may deliver additional long-range weaponry to Ukraine as part of his new initiatives. Some outlets claimed he had encouraged Zelensky to target Moscow and St. Petersburg, though the White House has refuted them. Publicly, the US president has advised against attacks on the Russian capital. Zelensky first presented his 'victory plan' to the US in September 2024. According to leaked classified details of the proposal's 'deterrence package,' Kiev asked the US to station nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles in Ukraine. The Biden administration reportedly rejected the request outright. Ukrainian lobbying efforts during the 2024 US election cycle drew scrutiny, particularly following Zelensky's visit to an arms manufacturing facility in the swing state of Pennsylvania. He was accompanied by prominent Democrats during the trip, including Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Bob Casey, prompting Republican officials to take aim, accusing him of implicitly supporting the rival party. Zelensky's subsequent interactions with Trump were also marked by tensions. The planned signing of a minerals deal during his February visit to the White House – an offer of broad US access to Ukrainian natural resources that originally was part of the 'victory plan' – erupted into a public dispute in the Oval Office. The agreement was ultimately signed in late April. Moscow has accused Zelensky of prolonging hostilities with Russia despite mounting Ukrainian casualties in a bid to preserve his power through martial law despite his presidential term officially ending last year.
Russia Today
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Trump tells Zelensky not to attack Moscow
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he told Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky not to target Moscow with military strikes. The statement comes in response to media speculation that he had encouraged Kiev to carry out long-range missile attacks deep into Russia. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately asked Zelensky whether he could hit Moscow and St. Petersburg if Washington supplied long-range weapons. Zelensky reportedly replied that he could. Asked by reporters whether Zelensky ought to fire missiles at Russia's capital, Trump replied 'No, he shouldn't target Moscow.' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the FT of twisting the president's words, saying it is 'notorious for taking words wildly out of context to get clicks because their paper is dying.' Leavitt insisted that Trump was 'merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing,' stressing that the president was 'working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also weighed in on the report, noting that 'as a rule, all of this usually turns out to be fake.' He added, however, that 'sometimes there are indeed serious leaks, even in publications we once considered quite respectable.' The FT report followed on Trump's ultimatum to Moscow, in which he threatened to impose 'severe' secondary tariffs on Russia's trade partners if no progress towards peace is made within 50 days. Trump also announced future deliveries of advanced weapons systems to Ukraine, which are to be funded by European NATO members. Since taking office in January, Trump has maintained that he wants the neighboring countries to make peace and has had several phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin that were focused on settling the conflict. Moscow says it remains open to negotiating with Kiev but has yet to receive a response on when new peace talks will take place. The two sides have held two rounds of direct negotiations in Istanbul so far this year, but no breakthroughs were achieved, other than agreements to carry out large-scale prisoner exchanges. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday that EU and NATO leaders have put Trump under 'improper pressure' to adopt a hardline stance on the conflict.
Reuters
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
NATO needs more long-range missiles to deter Russia, US general says
BERLIN, July 11 (Reuters) - NATO will need more long-range missiles in its arsenal to deter Russia from attacking Europe because Moscow is expected to increase production of long-range weapons, a U.S. Army general told Reuters. Russia's effective use of long-range missiles in its war inUkraine has convinced Western military officials of their importance for destroying command posts, transportation hubs and missile launchers far behind enemy lines. "The Russian army is bigger today than it was when they started the war in Ukraine," Major General John Rafferty said in an interview at a U.S. military base in Wiesbaden, Germany. "And we know that they're going to continue to invest in long-range rockets and missiles and sophisticated air defences. So more alliance capability is really, really important." The war in Ukraine has underscored Europe's heavy dependence on the United States to provide long-range missiles, with Kyiv seeking to strengthen its air defences. Rafferty recently completed an assignment as commander of the U.S. Army's 56th Artillery Command in the German town of Mainz-Kastel, which is preparing for temporary deployments of long-range U.S. missiles on European soil from 2026. At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is expected to try to clarify whether such deployments, agreed between Berlin and Washington when Joe Biden was president, will go ahead now that Donald Trump is back in the White House. The agreement foresaw the deployment of systems including Tomahawk missiles with a range of 1,800 km and the developmental hypersonic weapon Dark Eagle with a range of around 3,000 km. Russia has criticised the planned deployment of longer-range U.S. missiles in Germany as a serious threat to its national security. It has dismissed NATO concerns that it could attack an alliance member and cited concerns about NATO expansion as one of its reasons for invading Ukraine in 2022. Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo University who specialises in missiles, estimated that the U.S. provides some 90% of NATO's long-range missile capabilities. "Long-range strike capabilities are crucial in modern warfare," he said. "You really, really don't want to be caught in a position like Ukraine (without such weapons) in the first year (of the war). That puts you at an immediate disadvantage." Aware of this vulnerability, European countries in NATO have agreed to increase defence spending under pressure from Trump. Some European countries have their own long-range missiles but their number and range are limited. U.S. missiles can strike targets at a distance of several thousand km. Europe's air-launched cruise missiles, such as the British Storm Shadow, the French Scalp and the German Taurus, have a range of several hundred km. France's sea-launched Missile de Croisiere Naval (MdCN) can travel more than 1,000 km. They are all built by European arms maker MBDA( opens new tab(BAES.L), opens new tab( opens new tab which has branches in Britain, France, Germany and Italy. France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and Sweden are now participating in a programme to acquire long-range, ground-launched conventional missiles known as the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA). As part of the program, Britain and Germany announced in mid-May that they would start work on the development of a missile with a range of over 2,000 km.
Arab News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
NATO needs more long-range missiles to deter Russia, US general says
BERLIN: NATO will need more long-range missiles in its arsenal to deter Russia from attacking Europe because Moscow is expected to increase production of long-range weapons, a US Army general told effective use of long-range missiles in its war in Ukraine has convinced Western military officials of their importance for destroying command posts, transportation hubs and missile launchers far behind enemy lines.'The Russian army is bigger today than it was when they started the war in Ukraine,' Major General John Rafferty said in an interview at a US military base in Wiesbaden, Germany.'And we know that they're going to continue to invest in long-range rockets and missiles and sophisticated air defenses. So more alliance capability is really, really important.'The war in Ukraine has underscored Europe's heavy dependence on the United States to provide long-range missiles, with Kyiv seeking to strengthen its air recently completed an assignment as commander of the US Army's 56th Artillery Command in the German town of Mainz-Kastel, which is preparing for temporary deployments of long-range US missiles on European soil from a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is expected to try to clarify whether such deployments, agreed between Berlin and Washington when Joe Biden was president, will go ahead now that Donald Trump is back in the White agreement foresaw the deployment of systems including Tomahawk missiles with a range of 1,800 km and the developmental hypersonic weapon Dark Eagle with a range of around 3,000 has criticized the planned deployment of longer-range US missiles in Germany as a serious threat to its national security. It has dismissed NATO concerns that it could attack an alliance member and cited concerns about NATO expansion as one of its reasons for invading Ukraine in PLANSFabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo University who specializes in missiles, estimated that the US provides some 90 percent of NATO's long-range missile capabilities.'Long-range strike capabilities are crucial in modern warfare,' he said. 'You really, really don't want to be caught in a position like Ukraine (without such weapons) in the first year (of the war). That puts you at an immediate disadvantage.'Aware of this vulnerability, European countries in NATO have agreed to increase defense spending under pressure from European countries have their own long-range missiles but their number and range are limited. US missiles can strike targets at a distance of several thousand air-launched cruise missiles, such as the British Storm Shadow, the French Scalp and the German Taurus, have a range of several hundred km. France's sea-launched Missile de Croisiere Naval (MdCN) can travel more than 1,000 are all built by European arms maker MBDA which has branches in Britain, France, Germany and Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and Sweden are now participating in a program to acquire long-range, ground-launched conventional missiles known as the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA).As part of the program, Britain and Germany announced in mid-May that they would start work on the development of a missile with a range of over 2,000 km.
Al Arabiya
01-06-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
Ukraine hits over 40 Russian aircraft with drones, security official says
Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, conducted a large drone attack on over 40 Russian military aircraft on Sunday, an SBU official told Reuters. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the struck aircraft included Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine. Reuters could not immediately verify the statement. The source shared video footage which they said showed the strikes. Developing
