WASHINGTON — Russian dictator Vladimir Putin threatened President Trump not to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in a phone call set in motion by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff ahead of a high-stakes meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

With Zelensky scheduled to visit the White House the next day, Putin made the Oct. 16 call just as Trump was giving serious consideration to arming Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles to ramp up the pressure on Moscow to end its nearly four-year war on the country.

The critical Putin-Trump call came after Witkoff suggested to Yuri Ushakov, Russia’s top foreign policy aide, that Putin ingratiate himself with the US president by stroking his ego on achieving the Gaza cease-fire deal about a week before, according to a transc

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