Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday brushed off the new sanctions imposed by the US targeting two Russian oil companies and issued a new warning against the potential US supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
“Regarding the new sanctions, first of all, there is nothing new about it. Yes, they are serious for us and may have certain consequences, but they will not significantly impact our economic health,” Putin said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
The Trump administration called on Russia to end its war in Ukraine when it issued the sanctions and threatened more would be coming if the conflict continued. But the measures are unlikely to have much impact, since Russia has been under heavy Western sanctions for years and is prepared to face more.
Putin also said that the sanctions harm US-Russia relations. “Speaking about the political part, then, certainly, this is an unfriendly act against Russia. It is an obvious thing and it does not strengthen Russia-US relations that have just started recovering. Certainly, the US administration harms Russia-US relations by such actions,” he said.
Discussing the possibility of the US providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, Putin said any Ukrainian Tomahawk strikes would be met with an “overwhelming” response. “If Russian territory is hit… with such a weapon, the response will be very serious if not outright overwhelming,” he said.
President Trump appears to have cooled on the idea of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. “The problem with the Tomahawk is — a lot of people don’t know — It’ll take a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it.”
According to media reports, the US has been supporting long-range Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian territory. Trump denied a Wall Street Journal report that said he was backing the missile strikes, but Ukraine’s military claimed it used British-provided Storm Shadow missiles in an attack on a Russian chemical plant, which requires US targeting data.
