The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, speaks during an annual plenary session of the Valdai discussion club, on October 2, 2025 in Sochi, Russia.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, warned that the potential supply of long -range missiles to Ukraine would mark a “completely new climbing stage” between Washington and Moscow.
Speaking on Thursday in a forum in the Sochi complex in the Black Sea of ​​Russia, Putin admitted that the Crucero Tomahawk missile supply of the USA. Uu. A kyiv, “powerful” to kyiv, represented a threat to Russia, but would not change the situation on the battlefield.
“Can the Tomahawks damage us? They can. But we will knock them down and improve our air defense system,” Putin said, according to a NBC translation.
“Using Tomahawks without the direct participation of US military personnel is impossible. This would mark a qualitatively new and completely new stage of climbing between Russia and the United States,” he added.
His comments occur shortly after it was reported that the United States would provide Ukraine intelligence on long -range energy infrastructure objectives at the bottom of Russia, a movement that would represent a significant change in the support of the White House for kyiv.
The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, citing unidentified American officials, both reported Wednesday that the administration of President Donald Trump had approved the exchange of intelligence with Ukraine, while weighing whether to send cruise missiles Tomahawk to Kyiv.
CNBC has contacted the White House to comment.
The Tomahawk cruise missile supply, which is known to have a range of at least 1,500 miles (approximately 2,400 kilometers), would significantly boost Ukraine capacity to achieve Russian objectives.
Putin responds to the criticism of ‘paper tiger’
When asked about Russia’s recent Trump characterization as a “paper tiger,” Putin said Russian troops “” confidence “maintained the strategic initiative and were obtaining profits in Ukraine.
“But if we are fighting the entire NATO block and we are moving forward, feeling safe, and it is a paper tiger. What about NATO itself? What does it represent?” Putin said.
A paper tiger is a term that generally refers to a force that seems powerful but ineffective.
The president of the United States, in an important rhetorical change, also said last month that Ukraine could resume the territory captured by Russia.
Rescuers clear debris at the site of a Russian strike in a residential district on September 28, 2025 in kyiv, Ukraine.
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In a publication on social networks published on September 23, Trump said his opinion occurred after “knowing and fully understanding” the military and economic situation of Russia and Ukraine, pointing out what he described as the “economic problem” that the conflict is causing in Moscow.
The president of the United States has previously suggested that Ukraine would need to be open to renouncing some of its territory in the peace conversations, which Washington has taken measures for runner since the beginning of Trump’s second mandate.
Meanwhile, Russia is about to increase taxes on businesses and consumers, since the government seeks ways to support its war centered economy after more than three years of conflict and a half.
Airspace incursions
On Wednesday, the political leaders of the European Union supported the plans for a so -called drone wall on the eastern flank of the region, seeking to reinforce their defenses and repel Russia after a series of incursions of the airspace in recent weeks.
Defense giants have welcomed the concept, although the European Commission, the EU executive arm, has not yet produced a plan on how to finance and operate the project.
Putin said Thursday that Kremlin is “closely monitoring” what he described as the “growing militarization of Europe. Is it just an empty talk or is it time for us to take countermeasures?”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, speaks with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the summit of the European political community, on October 2, 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania, EU members and NATO on the northern flank and east of Europe, near Russia, have recently informed incursions of airspace that allegedly involve Russian airplanes or drones.
Meanwhile, Germnany, Denmark and Norway also reported unidentified drones in their airspace in recent days, with the incidents that lead to significant interruption to airports and air traffic.
Russia has previously denied that it is behind the provocations of drones against its European neighbors, describing them as “unfounded accusations.”
– Holly Ellyatt of CNBC contributed to this report.
