By Skylar Woodhouse and María Paula Mijares Torres
President Donald Trump said the US will send more Patriot air-defense batteries to Ukraine, which Kyiv has said it needs to protect itself from Russian airstrikes.
“We’re not paying anything for them,” Trump told reporters Sunday on his way back to the White House. “But we will get them Patriots, which they desperately need.”
The move signaled a change of heart for Trump, who had held off approving any new weapons shipments to Ukraine since the start of his second term. Instead, he had sought to coax Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, arguing that he could get a halt to the conflict where his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, had failed.
Ukraine had been receiving weapons from the US but only with money remaining from Biden’s time in office. Trump had previously refused to consider seeking additional funds, arguing that it would only harden Putin’s stance and dim chances to end the fighting.
On Sunday, Trump said that the US is supplying sophisticated weapons and that Ukraine will “pay us 100% for them.”
Last week, Trump said that he would make an announcement regarding Russia on Monday, but he declined to say whether that would include new sanctions being considered by Congress.
The president added that he is very disappointed with Putin. “He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening,” he said.
NATO chief Mark Rutte is scheduled to meet with Trump on Monday.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
