President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States will provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems, a major move by Washington to continue supporting Kyiv as Russia continues its long-running invasion.
Trump also hinted that new sanctions against Moscow might be around the corner, renewing his displeasure with Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine.
This comes after Trump's previous announcement that he would make a "major statement… on Russia" on Monday, creating expectation before a hectic diplomatic agenda. Monday will witness several international interactions, including the arrival of an American special envoy in Ukraine and Trump's meeting, as planned in Washington, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Over three years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting has escalated over the summer months. U.S.-led peace talks have failed to produce a breakthrough despite ongoing efforts.
"We will deliver Patriots, which they badly need," Trump said on Sunday, though he was not specific about how many missile systems would be sent.
"I haven't finalized the number yet, but they will have some because they do need to be protected," he said in a press conference at Joint Base Andrews after flying back from the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey.
This is a turnaround from the White House's previous move this month to halt some of the military supplies to Ukraine. The new agreement will have NATO funding some of the U.S. weaponry shipped to Kyiv.
"We essentially are going to send them pieces of highly advanced military and they're going to pay us 100 percent for them," Trump said. "It'll be business for us," he continued.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already signaled that his administration was close to a "multi-level agreement on new Patriot systems and missiles for them."
In the meantime, Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Putin, again attacking the Russian leader for his hypocrisy.
"Putin really surprised many people. He speaks nice and then he bombs everyone in the evening," Trump said.
When Trump resumed the presidency in January, he initially indicated he might work with Putin to bring the war to a close, eschewing increased sanctions like much of America's European allies. Russia has repeatedly rebuffed cease-fire proposals presented by the U.S. and Ukraine.
With increasingly vocal demands in Congress to take tougher steps, Trump recently intimated that he might soon tighten sanctions against Russia.
Pressed to say if there would be any new sanctions announced, Trump merely said: "We're going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?" He also confirmed his planned meeting with NATO's Rutte.
Earlier in the day on Sunday, U.S. senators endorsed a bipartisan bill that would arm Trump with broad new sanctions powers intended to check Russia's aggression.
As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham sees it, the proposed bill would empower Trump to markedly ratchet up pressure on Moscow.
The bill, Graham said in a CBS News interview, would allow the president "to go after Putin's economy, and all those countries who prop up the Putin war machine."
He went on: "It would give President Trump the potential to put on 500 percent tariffs on any nation that assists Russia," mentioning countries like China, India, and Brazil who buy Russian goods.
"This is really a sledgehammer that President Trump has available to him to bring this war to an end," Graham stressed.
Zelensky received the offer enthusiastically, tweeting on X that the step would "put in place the kind of leverage that can bring peace closer and ensure diplomacy is not empty."
Senators Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal are also to meet with NATO Secretary General Rutte on Monday evening.
Blumenthal wrote in his CBS interview that they will also be discussing the complex legal issue of tapping into frozen Russian assets stored in Europe and the U.S. to help Ukraine.
"The $5 billion which also belongs to the United States could be accessed, and I think it's time to do that," Blumenthal said.
