Trump says US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine ahead of ‘major statement’
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The news: US President Donald Trump said that the US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from Russian airstrikes.
The context: Trump did not specify the number of missiles the US will send, stating: “I haven’t agreed on the number yet, but they are going to have some, because they do need protection,” Trump told reporters late on Sunday. “But we will send…we will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.”
When asked by reporters if he planned to announce sanctions on Russia this week, Trump said: “We are going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?...But I am very disappointed with President Putin. I thought he was somebody that meant what he said.”
Russia has been escalating the intensity and volume of airstrikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, frustrating Trump’s efforts to broker a possible ceasefire between the nations.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with the US to provide more weapons and last week was able to secure agreements with Norway and Germany to buy three US Patriot systems from the US.
Trump said on Sunday that he was happy with NATO allies purchasing weapons from the US to be provided to Ukraine: “We basically are going to send them various missiles, very sophisticated, military, and they are going to pay us 100 per cent for them, and that’s the way we want it.”
The comments from Trump come ahead of a scheduled meeting with NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte in Washington. Trump has said he will deliver a “major statement” on the Ukraine war on Monday. German defence minister Boris Pistorius is also due in the US capital for talks.
