'Not Our War, Not Our Bill': Fico SHAMES Zelensky, EU; Says NO To Sanction On Russian Gas
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Mint
14 minutes ago
- Mint
After announcing fresh weapons cache for Ukraine, Donald Trump teases ‘major statement' on Russia ahead of NATO talks
US President Donald Trump is hosting the NATO chief in Washington on Monday after teasing a "major statement" on Russia's war in Ukraine, with senior Republicans preparing an arsenal of sanctions against Moscow. Trump, seeking to negotiate an end to the three-year war, has expressed growing impatience with the Kremlin leader, and over the weekend announced a fresh weapons cache for Ukraine. "We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need," Trump said Sunday, referring to the air defense system. He did not specify how many weapons he would send, but added that he would make a "major statement... on Russia" on Monday, when NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will be in Washington. The White House has U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv, instead announcing a new deal which would involve NATO purchasing some US weapons to send to Ukraine. In a statement, NATO said Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and will also meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rutte's 10 am (1400 GMT) Oval Office meeting on Monday will be closed to media. "We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military and they're going to pay us 100 percent for them," Trump said. "It'll be business for us," he added. Trump also repeated that he was "disappointed" in Putin, as he grows increasingly exasperated with the Russian leader. "Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening," Trump said on Sunday, as he returned from watching the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. Last week, Trump accused Putin of throwing "bullshit" at Washington on Ukraine, openly frustrated with the impasse on peace efforts. As he began his second stint in office in January, Trump insisted he could work with the Russian leader to swiftly end the war in Ukraine, and held off on hiking sanctions, unlike Kyiv's European allies. But Russia has for months refused a ceasefire proposed by the United States and Ukraine. Trump has hinted he might be ready to slap sanctions on Moscow as momentum grows for a deterrent package in Congress. When asked about whether he would announce any levies against Russia, Trump responded: "We're going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?" and repeated plans to meet with Rutte. Republican senators meanwhile are touting a bipartisan bill that would arm Trump with a "sledgehammer" to use against Russia. The sanctions bill would allow Trump "to go after Putin's economy, and all those countries who prop up the Putin war machine," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told broadcaster CBS news. It "would give President Trump the ability to impose 500 percent tariffs on any country that helps Russia," said Graham, adding that those could include economies that purchase Russian goods like China, India or Brazil. "This is truly a sledgehammer available to President Trump to end this war," said Graham. Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal were also due to meet NATO's Rutte on Monday. Blumenthal told CBS news they would also discuss the legally thorny issue of unlocking frozen Russian assets in Europe and the United States for access by Ukraine. "The $5 billion that the United States has also could be accessed, and I think it's time to do it," said Blumenthal. Zelensky said the proposed bill "is exactly the kind of leverage that can bring peace closer and make sure diplomacy is not empty". The Kremlin has previously said that sending arms to Ukraine would only prolong the conflict. Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little appetite for ending the conflict despite pressure from Trump. Over the summer, Russia has escalated its offensive and advanced the front line, launching some of the largest missile and drone attacks of the war.
News18
28 minutes ago
- News18
What Are Patriot Air Defence Systems Trump Will Send To Ukraine To Repel Russia's Aerial Assault?
Last Updated: The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defence system President Donald Trump has said that the United States will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, calling them 'necessary" to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin 'talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening". While Trump did not specify the number of Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union. '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. 'We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 per cent for that, and that's the way we want it," he added. The renewed push to provide air defence systems to Ukraine follows a series of devastating aerial assaults, which seem to be intensifying the frustration within the US administration as it continues to pursue a negotiated peace. On Tuesday last week, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones overnight, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning that Russia wanted to increase the number to 1,000, BBC reported. According to the United Nations, June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured. WHAT IS THE PATRIOT SYSTEM? The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defence system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) and considered one of the most advanced air defence systems in the US arsenal, Reuters reported. The system was first deployed in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, where it provided protection for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel. It was later used again during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. This mobile defence system typically consists of powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations, and various support vehicles. Its capabilities vary based on the interceptor type. The PAC-2 interceptor relies on a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile incorporates advanced hit-to-kill technology. According to NATO in 2015, the system's radar has a range exceeding 150 km (93 miles). The Patriot missile, which works like a Stinger missile, uses ground-based radar to surveil, track and engage targets. An incoming missile could be as far away as 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) and the Patriot system's radar can lock onto it. The missile is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system, which means midcourse correction commands are transmitted to the guidance system from the mobile engagement control centre. The missile has a range of 70km and a maximum altitude greater than 24km. The minimum flight time is less than nine seconds while the maximum is three and a half minutes. The Patriot missile has been through several significant upgrades since its initial development: • Software changes in the mid-1980s allowed the missile to engage tactical ballistic missiles, known as the PAC-1 (Patriot Advanced Capability). • The first major missile upgrade in the late 1980s introduced the MIM-104C missile, also known as the PAC-2 missile. • In 1993, more upgrades were made to allow remote launch capabilities of the PAC-2 missile. • In 1997, the Army deployed the PAC-3 missile — or MIM-104F missile — with an onboard radar detection and tracking system for improved capabilities against ballistic missiles. The first PAC-3 missiles used in combat were during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The Patriot system fires missiles from the M901 launch stations, which are equipped with up to four launch canisters, each capable of holding different types of PAC-3 missiles. These launchers are roughly the size of a tractor-trailer and receive their power from the electric power plant (EPP) vehicle. Every Patriot missile battery has a radar set used to scan the skies for incoming targets, detect potential targets, determine the trajectory, speed and heading of incoming targets, provide information to identify incoming targets, and track Patriot missiles once they are launched. A newly produced single Patriot battery costs over $1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles in a battery, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. WHICH COUNTRIES USE THE SYSTEM? Patriot is in service with the US and allied countries, including Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Poland, Sweden, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Romania, Spain, and Taiwan. HOW WILL IT HELP UKRAINE? Ukraine has said it needs more air defence systems to protect against the barrage of missile and drones strikes from Russian forces. top videos View all While the Patriot system is designed to intercept threats like aircraft and ballistic missiles, it can also shoot down the 'kamikaze" drones Russia has frequently sent to hit Ukrainian critical infrastructure. But it would be an extremely expensive way to destroy drones that only cost thousands of dollars. Officials and experts have said that while the Patriot system is likely to save lives from incoming missiles, it probably won't change the trajectory of the conflict since it is a defensive system. tags : Patriot Missiles russia-ukraine conflict United states Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelenskyy view comments Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: July 14, 2025, 11:51 IST News explainers What Are Patriot Air Defence Systems Trump Will Send To Ukraine To Repel Russia's Aerial Assault? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Is The Trump-Putin Bromance Over?
Washington: US President Donald Trump's another bromance seems to be edging toward a breakup. After a very public showdown with his "first buddy", Elon Musk, last month, Trump on Sunday took aim at his "friend", Vladimir Putin. Even before Donald Trump won the US Presidential election in 2024, he said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war within his first 24 hours in office. It's been nearly seven months since Trump returned to the White House, and the conflict is getting worse, with Russia intensifying drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. With no end to conflict in sight, the US leader's patience with his former frenemy Putin appears to be wearing thin, whom Trump called a "very kind" man just last month. Angered by his somewhat late epiphany that the Russian President does not have any plan to immediately end his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Trump said he was "disappointed" in Putin. "Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening," said the disgruntled Trump on Sunday. Last week, Trump accused the Russian leader of throwing "bulls***" at Washington on Ukraine -- openly frustrated with the seeming impasse. "We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump told reporters on July 9. Trump Promises New Weapon To Kyiv Trump on Sunday also pledged to send Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv and hinted at new sanctions on Russia, voicing displeasure with Putin. "We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need," Trump said Sunday, without specifying how many weapons he would send to Ukraine. "I haven't agreed on the number yet, but they're going to have some because they do need protection," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, as he returned from watching the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. The US president's announcement of weapons for Ukraine comes amid a diplomatic flurry set for Monday, with the US special envoy starting his latest trip to Ukraine and Trump set to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington. Moscow's offensive on Ukraine has lasted for more than three years, with attacks intensifying this summer and US-led negotiations so far yielding no results to end the fighting. The White House has U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv, instead announcing a new deal which would involve NATO paying the United States for some of the weapons it sends to Ukraine. "We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military, and they're going to pay us 100 per cent for be business for us," Trump said. Trump's U-Turn The US leader's latest announcement is a stunning reversal from his previous positions, where Trump shifted the US stance from staunch Kyiv supporter to adopting a conciliatory approach with Moscow. Trump went as far as to accept some of Russia's justifications for its invasion launched in 2022. In April, he blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia and said, "You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles." However, in the months that followed, Trump appears to have grown tired of yet another one of his buddies and is once again on track to support Kyiv. When asked on Sunday about whether he would announce any sanctions against Russia, the US leader responded: "We're going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?"
