Walt has made it known that this business is only about the money from the get go. Good for Jesse for being able to critically think for once. And ff course he cares for Jesse. He doesn't want to kill Jesse at all. It is a last resort measure as Walt feels Jesse is a danger to himself and his family (which is true).
And regarding, "Personally, I think Walt is pretty cowardly. Very rarely has he killed in cold blood in the series (just the drug dealers he ran over)."
That just seems like a strange comment. I would think seeing that Walt doesn't want to kill would be a positive.
Being evil and being cowardly aren't mutually exclusive. He's more than happy to have other people do it for him.