"We're certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans," Vance said. "It's something the president's going to make the final determination on."

At each of these stages, Putin is given the opportunity to retreat and go to negotiations.

Vice President J.D. Vance said in September that the Trump administration was discussing Kyiv's request for Tomahawk missiles—a prospect that has alarmed the Kremlin. Russian leaders are worried about Kyiv's ability to strike deep inside Russia, putting many more of its military and energy sites within range.