Kremlin Warns West as Ukraine War Reaches a ‘Dramatic’ Point of Escalation

The Kremlin on Sunday voiced deep concern over the potential U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, warning that the conflict has entered a dramatic phase marked by intensifying escalation on all sides.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that before agreeing to send Tomahawk missiles, he wanted to understand Ukraine’s plans for their use, stressing that he did not wish to further escalate the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, he added that he had “more or less made a decision” on the issue.

Tomahawk missiles have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (about 1,550 miles), which would allow Ukraine to strike deep within Russian territory, including Moscow. According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, some older variants of the Tomahawk are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

In comments published Sunday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television journalist Pavel Zarubin, “The issue of Tomahawks is extremely worrying. This is indeed a very dramatic moment, as tensions are rising everywhere.”

The war in Ukraine — Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II — has triggered the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Russian officials now describe it as a “fierce” and prolonged standoff with the West.

Peskov warned that if Tomahawk missiles were fired at Russia, Moscow would have to consider that some versions of the weapon are capable of carrying nuclear payloads.

“Just imagine — a long-range missile is launched, it’s in flight, and we know it could be nuclear. What should the Russian Federation think? How should it respond? Foreign military experts need to understand this,” Peskov said.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that Tomahawk missiles cannot be used without the direct involvement of U.S. military personnel, and that any such transfer to Ukraine would mark “a new stage of escalation.”

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the U.S. has for months been assisting Ukraine in conducting long-range strikes against Russian energy facilities. The paper said U.S. intelligence has been helping Kyiv plan routes, altitudes, timing, and mission parameters to allow Ukraine’s long-range one-way attack drones to evade Russian air defenses.

Putin has long portrayed the war as a turning point in Moscow’s relations with the West, accusing NATO of humiliating Russia after the Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse by expanding eastward and encroaching on Moscow’s traditional sphere of influence, including Ukraine and Georgia.

Ukraine and its allies, meanwhile, describe the invasion as an imperial-style land grab and have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces.