WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said that the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s invasion, arguing that Moscow’s recent assault on Ukrainian cities left him with little choice.
Trump’s comments appeared to signal a reversal from the president after his administration paused some arms transfers to the country just last week, raising fears that the United States was retrenching its support. Instead, Trump said on Monday that he had grown unhappy with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who has frustrated Trump’s hopes to broker a ceasefire.
“We’re going to send some more weapons,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves.
“They’re getting hit very hard,” he continued. “So many people are dying in that mess.”
Those statements were a remarkable turnaround for Trump, who has often expressed skepticism of U.S. aid to Ukraine. Just months ago, he dressed down President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine in the Oval Office, claiming he had been insufficiently grateful for America’s support.
After Trump’s remarks, the Pentagon confirmed late Monday that the flow of munitions to Ukraine was resuming.
“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops,” Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement.
It was unclear if the weapons whose delivery had been paused — including Patriot interceptors — would now be sent to Ukraine, or whether the military would send different weapons.
The White House acknowledged last week that the administration had paused the delivery of some air defense interceptors and precision-guided bombs and missiles to Ukraine, citing Pentagon concerns that U.S. weapons stockpiles were dwindling. The decision was described at the time by a White House spokesperson as an assessment of munitions provided around the globe.
But on Friday, Russia attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with the largest number of drones and missiles launched in a single barrage so far in the war, according to the Ukrainian air force. The attack came just hours after a phone call between Trump and Putin, which Trump told reporters afterward had not made “any progress,” a blunt assessment from the president about a relationship he typically describes in rosier terms.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Trump spoke with Zelenskyy on Friday, and the Ukrainian president called it a “very important and fruitful conversation.”
“We discussed the current situation, including Russian airstrikes and the broader frontline developments,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media. “President Trump is very well-informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine. We spoke about opportunities in air defense and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies.”
The issue of whether to supply military aid to Ukraine has bitterly divided Republicans for months, with fierce opposition coming from some of Trump’s most vocal supporters.
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