President Volodymyr Zelensky called the issue of a potential supply of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine “very delicate.” He made this remark while speaking to journalists in Brussels on October 23.

Zelensky responded to the recent decision by his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, not to provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

“I think you have heard about this from President Trump. It is a very delicate decision. But it’s a situation similar to what we faced with sanctions earlier,” he said.

Zelensky emphasized that the sanctions decision “once seemed impossible.”

“Now we see decisions being made on these energy sanctions, which are very important. And so I believe that in the long term, we will see a similar decision on this issue in the future. But it depends on the American side,” the Ukrainian president added.

It is worth noting that Trump, while speaking to journalists during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, said that the U.S. did not agree to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles because it would take six months to a year for Ukrainian forces to learn how to use them.

“Tomahawk requires a huge learning curve. It’s very powerful, very precise, and perhaps that’s what makes it so difficult. It takes a year of intensive training to learn how to use it, and we know how to use it, and we’re not going to train anyone else,” Trump said.

He added that the only way Ukraine could strike with Tomahawks would be if the U.S. fired the missiles itself, but Washington “will not do that.”