Trump Confirms Cancellation of "Putin-Trump Summit", States Won't Teach Tomahawk Operation Methods to Other Countries

US President Trump confirmed on the 22nd that he had canceled the planned recent meeting between US and Russian leaders, citing that the meeting would not yield results at this time. He also stated that the US would not teach the operation methods of the Tomahawk missile to other countries.

Speaking to the media during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte at the White House that afternoon, Trump said he canceled the plan to meet with Russian President Putin in Hungary soon to discuss the Ukraine issue because he "felt the timing was not right," and a meeting currently "could not achieve the goal." He stated he would meet with Putin "at some time in the future."

Trump also mentioned that learning to operate the high-precision Tomahawk long-range cruise missile "requires at least six months, usually a year of intensive training," and the US military would not teach the operation methods to other countries.

Prior to Trump's meeting with Rutte, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russia's two largest oil companies and their subsidiaries. Regarding this, Trump said, "It's time [for sanctions], we've waited a long time," expressing hope that the sanctions would not last too long and that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would subside.

US Treasury Secretary Besant, in an interview with Fox Business Network on the morning of the 22nd, said that Trump was disappointed by the lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine negotiations following the US-Russia leaders' meeting in Alaska in August.

Ukraine has consistently sought to obtain Tomahawk missiles from the United States. Russia has repeatedly warned that providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would escalate the situation. Trump once indicated that he had made "some decision" regarding this matter but later refused to provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.