With a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, Trump says he is now focused on ending the war in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a hostage agreement in place, President Donald Trump says he is now turning his attention to ending Russia’s war on Ukraine and is considering supplying long-range weapons to Kiev as he looks to get Moscow to the negotiating table.

Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza has been central to Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, in which he has consistently mocked President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts. However, like his predecessor, Trump also faced awkward positioning from President Vladimir Putin as he unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader for direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war, which is approaching its fourth year.

Read more: Trump says he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Russia continues the conflict

But after the Gaza ceasefire, Trump is showing new confidence in his ability to finally make progress in ending the Russian invasion. He also indicates that he is prepared to ramp up pressure on Putin if he does not come to the table soon.

“It’s interesting that we made progress today, because of what happened in the Middle East,” Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday evening while welcoming backers of the ballroom project to the White House for a lavish dinner.

Earlier this week in Jerusalem, in a speech to the Knesset, Trump predicted that the Gaza truce would lay the foundation for the United States to help Israel and many of its Middle Eastern neighbors normalize relations. But Trump has also made clear that his top foreign policy priority now is ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

Read more: How did Trump’s rhetoric about Zelensky and Putin develop, as he put it?

“We have to first get the job done on Russia,” Trump said, addressing his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who also served as his administration’s main interlocutor with Putin. “We have to get this done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. Okay?”

Trump weighs a tomahawk for Ukraine

Trump is scheduled to host Zelensky for talks on Friday, their fourth face-to-face meeting this year.

Before the meeting, Trump said he was considering selling long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev, which would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory — if Putin does not settle the war soon. Zelensky, who has long sought the weapons system, said it would help Ukraine put the necessary pressure on Russia to convince Putin to participate in peace talks.

Read more: Putin praises Trump’s peace efforts, despite his failure to win the Nobel Prize

Putin explained that supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles would cross the red line and would cause more damage to relations between Moscow and Washington.

But Trump was not deterred.

“He wants to get Tomahawk missiles,” Trump said of Zelensky on Tuesday. “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”

Read more: Ukrainian officials meet with US arms manufacturers ahead of Trump-Zelensky talks

Mark Montgomery, an analyst at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said approving the sale of Ukrainian Tomahawks would be a terrible move. But it could take years to equip and train Kyiv with the Tomahawk system.

Montgomery said Ukraine could be better served in the near term by increasing the Extended Attack Ordnance Missile (ERAM) and the Army’s Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS. The United States already agreed to sell up to 3,350 ERAM units to Kiev earlier this year.

The Tomahawk missile, with a range of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers), would allow Ukraine to strike much deeper into Russian territory than ERAM (about 285 miles, or 460 kilometers) or ATACMS (about 186 miles, or 300 kilometers).

Read more: Chinese airlines protest US plan to ban flights over Russian airspace

“Providing Tomahawk missiles is as much a political decision as it is a military decision,” Montgomery said. “The range of the ERAM is shorter, but this can help them put pressure on Russia operationally, on their logistics, command and control, and force distribution several hundred kilometers from the front line. It can be very effective.”

Indications that the White House is interested in imposing new sanctions on Russia

Zelensky is expected to repeat his appeal to Trump to impose more sanctions on the Russian economy, something the Republican has seemed reluctant to do so far.

Congress is considering legislation that would trigger tougher sanctions on Moscow, but Trump has largely focused his attention on pressuring NATO members and other allies to halt purchases of Russian oil, the engine that fuels Moscow’s war machine. To this end, Trump said Wednesday that India, which became one of Russia’s largest buyers of crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine, had agreed to stop buying oil from Moscow.

Read more: Germany pledged more military aid as Ukraine set its defense needs for 2026 at $120 billion.

Awaiting Trump’s blessing, there is legislation in the Senate that would impose steep tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports in an attempt to cripple Moscow economically.

Although the president has not formally endorsed it — and Republican leaders do not plan to move forward without his support — the White House, behind the scenes, has shown greater interest in the bill in recent weeks.

Administration officials have reviewed the legislation in depth, offering amendments and requesting technical changes, according to officials familiar with the discussions between the White House and Senate. That was interpreted on Capitol Hill as a sign that Trump was becoming more serious about the legislation, which was sponsored by his close ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-Conn., along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, R-Connecticut.

A White House official said the administration is working with lawmakers to ensure that “the bills introduced advance the president’s foreign policy goals and authorities.” The official, who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said any sanctions package should give the president “full flexibility.”

Read more: European positions on Russia are hardening with the escalation of drone incidents, cyber attacks and acts of sabotage

Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said on Wednesday that the administration was awaiting greater participation from Europe, which he noted faced a greater threat from Russian aggression than the United States.

“All I hear from the Europeans is that Putin is coming to Warsaw,” Besant said. “There are very few things in life that I’m sure of. I’m sure he won’t come to Boston. So, we will respond… if our European partners join us.”

AP writers Fatima Hussein, Chris Megerian and Didi Tang contributed to this report.