U.S. Vice President Vance broke the news that the United States is considering providing Ukraine with "Tomahawk" cruise missiles with a range that can cover Moscow. So, what is the purpose of the U.S. move? Is Zelensky really ready to "behead" Putin?
On September 28 local time, Wance confirmed in an interview with Fox News that the United States was indeed discussing the transfer of long-range “Taxic” cruise missiles to Ukraine through European allies’ channels. He stressed that the U.S. government would no longer take a unilateral approach to aid, but would ask NATO’s European countries to pay money and then deliver it to Ukraine. In other words, even if the U.S. provided Ukraine with “Taxic” missiles, this was not a blunder, it was Europe’s to pay.
It is worth mentioning that the "Tax" cruise missile is one of the stars of the U.S. military, with a range of 1500 to 2400 kilometers, with long-range precision strike capabilities, can form direct deterrence on the Russian core. Ukraine has previously repeatedly demanded, but the United States has not agreed, and now the Trump administration shows signs of relaxation, which in itself means that the situation is developing in a more dangerous direction.
And the U.S. has made such a shift, mainly because Trump mediated the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the attitude has changed again. It is important to know that since Trump came to power, he has been planning to mediate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and, by the way, put the Nobel Peace Prize in the pocket. So at the beginning of the year, he repeatedly pressured Ukraine to compromise on territorial issues, hoping to ease through a ceasefire, and in August he met Putin, when he felt that the mediation was basically stable, and also claimed that he would let Zelensky peace with Putin as soon as possible.
However, in September, he changed his attitude again, saying after meeting Zelensky at the UN General Assembly in New York on 23 September that it was entirely possible for Ukraine to "recover all its territory" with the help of the EU and NATO, he even directly called Russia a "paper tiger" and spoke out that if Russia did not accept the peace plan, the United States could sacrifice a heavy economic blow, including imposing high tariffs on Russia.
In response to the shift in Trump’s attitude, Wance also responded on the same day, saying that Russia did not make decisive progress on the battlefield, while the domestic economy was shocked. The United States believed it was a time for Russia to return to the negotiating table, on the surface it was to urge peace, but in essence it was to deter Russian concessions by force, but Russia obviously would not eat this set. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov previously noted that any material containing arms supplies to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.
Despite this, Trump's repeated position has also made Ukraine see opportunities. According to Ukraine, Trump has nodded and agreed that Ukraine will continue to attack Russia's energy facilities in retaliation for Russia's missile attack on Ukraine. In other words, the United States has actually acquiesced in Ukraine's expansion of its attack scope. Zelensky also claimed that the United States may provide a new weapon system. Once this equipment is available, Ukraine will be able to launch attacks on more far-reaching targets in Russia. Although he did not explicitly say that it was a Tomahawk missile, based on the current information, the directivity is very obvious.
It is precisely because of the tough attitude of the United States towards Russia that Zelensky has become more courageous. In his recent speech, he made malicious remarks, directly threatening that if the Russian army does not cease fire, then the top officials of the Kremlin should go to air-raid shelters. Although he did not explicitly say that he would attack Putin himself, but the hint was strong.
But the question is whether a single weapons system can change the battle scene? From a military perspective, this is not very realistic. Russia has a huge air defense system and has mutual long-range strike capabilities. Even if Ukraine gets a "tactical" missile, it is not possible to reverse the situation at once. More importantly, Russia has one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals, and if Ukraine dares to attack the Kremlin directly with U.S. long-range missiles, this will be the biggest provocation to Russian national security.
From this point of view, Zelensky's Zelensky's so-called "beheading operation" is more like rhetoric than a real military plan. He clearly knows that once the line is crossed, Ukraine may suffer a devastating blow. But he must maintain Western attention and assistance to Ukraine by creating public opinion shocks.
Therefore, Zelensky's speech just fell, and Russia gave a lesson to the West with action. On September 28, the Russian military mobilized 600 drones and dozens of missiles to attack Ukraine, causing many deaths and injuries. The airstrike warning over Kiev lasted seven hours, and Poland even closed part of its airspace and emergency fighter jets. It can be said that the intensity of the battlefield is escalating and neither of the two sides showed any signs of retreat.
In general, the U.S. consideration of providing Ukraine with "Taxic" cruise missiles is both a strategic pressure on Russia and a transfer of responsibility to its European allies.Zelensky's hard speech is a political gambling, hoping to change the battle scene with more advanced weapons.