US senator urges more Tomahawks for Ukraine to target Russia’s missile production
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has called for providing Ukraine with more Tomahawk missiles and licenses to produce Patriot interceptors, arguing that Kyiv cannot rely on air defense alone and needs the ability to strike Russia’s missile-production capacity.
Speaking in Kyiv, Blumenthal said the United States needed to become more flexible and productive in expanding its defense-industrial base. He pointed to Ukraine’s rapid advances in drone and missile technology and suggested that, with time and appropriate licensing from U.S. companies, Ukraine could develop more of its own missile-defense capability.
But interceptors remain in short supply, he said, and Ukraine would probably never be able to fully protect itself against the number of missiles Russia can launch to overwhelm its defenses, particularly given the high cost of interceptors.
“Interceptors are defense. But in the broader perspective, defense means disabling and potentially destroying Russia’s missile-production capacity,” Blumenthal said.
He argued that Ukraine’s strategy of using drones and domestically produced missiles to strike Russian missile-production facilities was “smart” and important in the long term.
“And for that strategy, Ukraine needs more Tomahawks. That’s what I will also be urging the United States to provide,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal: Russia deliberately targeting U.S. businesses
Blumenthal also said about half of American companies operating in Ukraine had suffered significant Russian missile or drone attacks.
“Americans ought to be outraged that American businesses have been specifically and deliberately targeted by Putin,” he said. “There should be no mistake about it: It is not accidental. It is deliberate and repeated targeting.”
He said the attacks had caused millions of dollars in damage and called on U.S. businesses to press the White House and Congress for stronger action to force Russia to the negotiating table.
Blumenthal also renewed his push for tougher sanctions against Moscow, arguing that economic pressure could significantly weaken Russia’s ability to finance its war.
“Putin understands only strength. He is a gangster who understands only strength,” Blumenthal said. “And the Russia sanctions bill is a sledgehammer that can apply exactly the kind of strength that Putin understands.”
The sanctions legislation, originally introduced by Blumenthal and the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in April 2025, received broad bipartisan support but was held up at the request of the White House amid negotiations with Russia.
A revised version was introduced after Graham’s death in July. The Senate backed the bill in a procedural vote on July 28, with 86 senators voting in favor.
What Blumenthal hopes the CIA told Moscow
Asked by hromadske whether CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s recent visit to Russia signaled a change in U.S. policy, Blumenthal said he had no inside information about the trip — joking that even if he had received classified information, he could not disclose it “or I might not have a passport to return to the United States.”
“I have received no inside knowledge or intelligence,” he said. “But as someone familiar with the intelligence, my hope is that he delivered a warning about escalation, namely: forget about it. There will be consequences.”
“Putin needs to know that the United States will be engaged if there is the kind of escalation that we’ve heard he may be contemplating,” Blumenthal added. “I’m very hopeful that the message was: Don’t do it. Forget about it. You’ll have no free shot.”
“Homework” from Zelenskyy
Blumenthal said he was also taking several issues back to Washington following his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Part of his “homework” from Zelenskyy, he said, was to try to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump and others, including Elon Musk, that Starlink should be disabled for Russia.
“Starlink is an important part of my homework,” Blumenthal said, listing missile interceptors and air defense, Starlink and the Russia sanctions bill among the issues he planned to pursue.
Zelenskyy met Blumenthal and other U.S. senators in Kyiv on Ukraine’s Independence Day. The Ukrainian president said after the meeting that work to increase pressure on Russia was continuing in both chambers of Congress.
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