Each of the cruise missiles had “hit within a foot of where they were supposed to hit”, the US president boasted. Unlike previous attempts by Mr Zelensky to secure Tomahawks for his armed forces, which were rebuffed by Joe Biden’s administration, a breakthrough appears to have been made. The idea, if sanctioned by Mr Trump, would see European governments pay for shipments of Tomahawks to Ukraine through a Nato-led scheme. Mr Trump has previously expressed fears that Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, using US weapons and intelligence, could lead to a nuclear war. When the first British, air-launched cruise missiles arrived in Ukraine in 2023, Kyiv unlocked a whole series of new targets.