Trump says he's now looking to 'get Russia done'

With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal holding, President Donald Trump says he's now turning his attention to bringing Russia's war on Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kiev long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow to the negotiating table.

Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Trump's 2024 reelection pitch, in which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts. Yet, like his predecessor, Trump also has been stymied by President Vladimir Putin as he's unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war that is nearing its fourth year.

But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion. He's also signaling that he's ready to step up pressure on Putin if he doesn't come to the table soon.

“Interestingly we made progress today, because of what's happened in the Middle East," Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Oct. 15 evening as he welcomed supporters of his White House ballroom project to a glitzy dinner.

Earlier this week in Jerusalem, in a speech to the Knesset, Trump made clear his top foreign policy priority now is ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

“First we have to get Russia done,” Trump said, turning to his special envoy Steve Witkoff , who has also served as his administration's chief interlocutor with Putin. “We gotta get that one done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. All right?”

Trump is set to host Zelensky for talks on Oct. 17, their fourth face-to-face meeting this year.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump has said he's weighing selling Kiev long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory, if Putin doesn't settle the war soon.

Zelensky, who has long sought the weapons system, said it would help Ukraine put the sort of pressure on Russia needed to get Putin to engage in peace talks.

Putin has made clear that providing Ukraine with Tomahawks would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

But Trump has been undeterred.

“He'd like to have Tomahawks,” Trump said of Zelensky on Oct. 14. “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”

Agreeing to sell Ukraine Tomahawks would be a splashy move, said Mark Montgomery, an analyst at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. But it could take years to supply and train Kiev on the Tomahawk system.

Montgomery said Ukraine could be better served in the near term with a surge of Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles and Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS. The U.S. already approved the sale of up to 3,350 ERAMs to Kiev earlier this year.

The Tomahawk, with a range of about 1,600 kilometers, would allow Ukraine to strike far deeper in Russian territory than either the ERAM (about 460 km) or ATACMS (about 300 kilometers).

“To provide Tomahawks is as much a political decision as it is a military decision,” Montgomery said.