Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the potential transfer of U.S. Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could have disastrous consequences for all sides, particularly for U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently floated the idea of supplying the long-range weapons to Kyiv.

In a post on his Telegram channel Monday, Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said the deployment of such missiles would dramatically escalate tensions and could provoke a nuclear response from Moscow.

“It is impossible to distinguish between Tomahawk missiles carrying nuclear warheads and conventional ones after they are launched,” Medvedev said, echoing an argument long emphasized by Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. “How should Russia respond? Exactly!” he added, implying that Moscow might consider a nuclear retaliation.

The remarks came after President Trump, speaking to reporters on Sunday, suggested that the U.S. might supply Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles if Russia does not halt its invasion.

“Yeah, I might tell him [Putin], if the war is not settled, we may very well do it,” Trump said. “We may not, but we may do it... Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”

Medvedev dismissed Trump’s comments as “another empty threat,” referencing previous statements made by the U.S. president in August, when he claimed to have ordered two nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia in response to “provocative remarks” by the former Russian leader.

Putin has also warned that any move by Washington to supply Kyiv with Tomahawk missiles — which have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) — would mark a dangerous escalation and “destroy what remains” of Russia-U.S. relations. The missiles’ range would make nearly all of European Russia, including Moscow, reachable from Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a separate statement, said that if the U.S. decided to send Tomahawks, they would be used strictly for military purposes and not against civilian targets inside Russia.

As the war nears its third year, Moscow and Washington continue to trade warnings over Western arms deliveries to Kyiv, with Russia insisting such moves cross red lines and risk direct confrontation between nuclear powers. (ILKHA)