President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States will supply Ukraine with Patriot air defence missiles. He said that the weapons are essential for Ukraine’s protection, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening,” referring to the ongoing Russian strikes against Ukrainian cities.
Trump did not give a number of Patriot missiles he plans to send to Ukraine, but he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union. The U.S. president has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin because the Russian leader has resisted Trump’s attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump is expected to announce a new plan to arm Ukraine with offensive weapons in a sharp departure from his earlier stance, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Patriot systems are among the most advanced surface-to-air missile platforms and could significantly bolster Ukraine’s ability to intercept incoming threats.
Ukraine Needs More Weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks from Russia.
“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington.
“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100% for that, and that’s the way we want it,” Trump said.
Trump’s remarks came during a campaign event, and the Pentagon has yet to release an official timeline for the deployment.
He plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine and other issues this week.
(With inputs from Reuters)
