Trump says will send Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, lashes out at Putin — ‘talks nice and then bombs everybody’ | World News
Amid discussions over weapon supply to Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has said he will send Patriot air defence systems to help the war-torn country defend itself from ongoing Russian invasion, in a fresh broadside against his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“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 on Sunday.
The US president did not specify the number of Patriots he plans to send to Kyiv, but said that the cost would be fully reimbursed the European Union.
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“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophicated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100% for that, and that’s the way we want it,” he said.
On being asked if he would announce any sanctions against Russia, he said, “We’re going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?”
Trump’s remarks come as he is set to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, where discussions around the ongoing situation in Ukraine are expected.
Trump with Putin, Zelenskyy
Trump’s announcement to facilitate Ukraine’s weapon supply comes as he has repeatedly signalled his displeasure with Putin during several instances. At a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, he said that he was “not happy” with his Russian counterpart over a conflict that was “killing a lot of people” on both sides.Story continues below this ad
In an earlier NBC News interview, Trump teased that he will make a major announcement on Russia next week.
Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences launching major aerial attacks. Last week, Moscow fired over 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine, topping previous barrages for the third time in two weeks. Russia’s bigger army is pressing hard on parts of the 620-mile (1,000-kilometre) front line.
