Ukraine in 'positive' talks with US on missiles, ambassador says

Nick Wadhams, Bloomberg News on Nov 7, 2025

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Ukraine Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna said her country is engaged in “positive” talks about buying Tomahawk missiles and other long-range weaponry, even after President Donald Trump signaled he didn’t want to send them to the country.

“The discussion is still ongoing but we have a lot of delegations working to scale up the available financial resources to procure more military capabilities from the U.S.,” Stefanishyna said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power.

“It is not only Tomahawks but different types of other long-range and short-range missiles and I can only say that it’s rather positive,” she said.

Stefanishyna, a former lawyer who oversaw Ukraine’s push to boost European and Euro-Atlantic integration, became Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington a little more than two months ago. One of her top tasks was to strengthen the relationship with Trump, who has sometimes been critical of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and once called him a “dictator.”

Zelenskyy has managed to improve ties in the months since a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him. In a sign of Trump’s growing displeasure with Russia, the president imposed sanctions last month on two oil majors Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC over a “lack of serious commitment” to the peace process.

Zelenskyy’s latest push is for Tomahawks and other long-range missiles that would allow it to hit targets deep within Russian territory. But Trump has said Tomahawks can only be effective if the U.S. fires them, and it’s not going to do so.

Asked about repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks, Stefanishyna said “it’s definitely a very tough period for Ukraine.”

“We’re working hard to provide more air-defense capabilities to Ukraine,” she said. “We can survive this winter and another winter, but it does not mean that it is right.” She said any refusal to put pressure on Russia will be seen as “something that gives them the green light to scale up their capabilities.”

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—With assistance from Joe Mathieu and Tyler Kendall.