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Donald Trump has said he plans to make a “major statement” on Russia next week, as he signalled the US would sell more weapons to allies to send to Ukraine, including Patriot missile systems.
The US president renewed his criticism of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in an interview with NBC News, and said the new weapons deliveries would be sent through other members of the Nato alliance, rather than directly from the US.
“I’m disappointed in Russia, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks . . . I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments came amid warming ties with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and an apparent cooling of relations with Putin.
Trump earlier this week said he was “not happy” with the Russian leader for failing to find an end to the war.
The US president said he had reached what he called a new deal for sending weapons to Ukraine, through purchases made by Nato allies.
“We’re sending weapons to Nato, and Nato is paying for those weapons, 100 per cent . . . The weapons that are going out are going to Nato, and then Nato is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and Nato is paying for those weapons,” Trump said.
“We are going to be sending Patriots to Nato and then Nato will distribute that,” he added.
Nato, of which the US is the biggest member, does not collectively purchase weapons, but some members of the alliance have indicated their willingness to purchase more weapons on behalf of Ukraine. Germany has offered to buy two Patriot systems from the US to give to Kyiv.
The US-made Patriot systems are some of Washington’s most advanced air defence weapons and a key part of Ukraine’s defences against Russian attacks. They are the only air defence weapon in Kyiv’s arsenal capable of downing Russia’s hypersonic ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy said he had secured agreements with Germany and Norway for the purchase of three Patriot air defence systems from the US to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks.
Russia has launched some of its heaviest bombardments of the war over the past week, including missile and drone attacks lasting nearly 10 hours from Wednesday night into Thursday.
Zelenskyy said on Thursday in Rome, where he was meeting European leaders, that “Russia wants to launch 1,000 drones” a day at Ukraine soon.
He said that joint production of interceptor drones capable of bringing down Russia’s Iran-designed suicide drones was a solution that he had discussed with western allies. “If our partners take in everything I’ve shared and funding is allocated accordingly, we will be able to do it,” he said.
Zelenskyy said there were four Ukrainian companies and one US-Ukrainian company that already produce the drones. “What we need now is to scale up production,” he said.
Trump had on Tuesday said the US would continue to send weapons to Ukraine, reversing an earlier Pentagon decision to halt deliveries of some critical weaponry.
In the NBC interview, Trump also signalled his support for Republican Lindsey Graham’s bill to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, and described the legislation as “letting the president do whatever he wants”.
“It’s a bill that the Senate is passing that very respectfully lets the president do whatever he wants, as you know . . . In other words, it’s . . . my option if I want to use it. They’re going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill, but it’s up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it.”
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