US to supply Ukraine intelligence for long-range missile strikes in Russia

The move marks the first confirmed policy shift approved by President Donald Trump since he adopted a tougher stance towards Russia

The United States will supply Ukraine with intelligence to support long-range missile strikes against Russia’s energy infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials. The move marks a significant policy shift by the Trump administration as it considers arming Kyiv with advanced weapons capable of striking deeper inside Russian territory.

 

US officials added that Washington is also urging its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) allies to provide similar assistance. This is the first known policy decision that US President Donald Trump has endorsed since adopting a tougher stance on Moscow in recent weeks, as he seeks to end Russia’s more than three-year-long war in Ukraine.

 

 

Intelligence support to target energy revenue

 

While Washington has long shared intelligence with Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal reported that the latest step will make it easier for Ukraine to target facilities such as oil refineries, pipelines, and power plants. The aim is to cut off the Kremlin’s energy revenue, a critical source of funding for its war effort.

 

Trump has been pressing European nations to curb imports of Russian oil, offering his backing for stricter sanctions on Moscow to choke off financing for its invasion of Ukraine.

 

Kyiv’s request for Tomahawk missiles

 

The US is also reviewing Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of about 2,500 km -- sufficient to reach Moscow and much of European Russia if launched from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has also developed an indigenous long-range missile, known as the Flamingo, though the quantity in production remains unclear.

 

According to US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, approval for expanded intelligence sharing came shortly before Trump wrote on social media last week that Ukraine could “retake all its land occupied by Russia”, signalling a notable rhetorical shift in favour of Kyiv.

 

Russia’s response

 

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to counter Kyiv’s westward geopolitical tilt and what it calls Nato’s eastern expansion. Kyiv and its European allies see the invasion as an imperial-style land grab. Trump, who began his second term in January, has pledged to end the conflict swiftly.

 

“President Trump is a special kind of politician. He likes quick fixes and this is a situation where quick fixes do not work,” Russia’s United Nations (UN) Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Wednesday during a press conference marking the start of Russia’s October presidency of the UN Security Council.

 

Nebenzia also cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that US supplies of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine “will not change the situation on the battlefield".

 

This is the first time Washington will assist Ukraine with targeting long-range strikes against Russian energy facilities. Energy exports remain the Kremlin’s

most important source of revenue for financing its war effort, making oil and gas infrastructure a prime focus of Western sanctions.