U.S. to send 'more weapons' to Ukraine, Trump says
Trump's announcement followed Washington saying last week that it was halting some weapons shipments to Kyiv, leaving Ukrainian officials caught off guard and scrambling for clarity.
A pause poses a potentially serious challenge for Kyiv, which is contending with some of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the more than 3-year-old war.
"We're going to have to send more weapons — defensive weapons primarily," Trump told journalists at the White House.
"They're getting hit very, very hard," he said of Ukraine, while adding that he was "not happy" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a statement, the U.S. Defense Department later said it would send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine at Trump's direction, to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while efforts continue to secure a lasting peace.
The Pentagon said its initiative to evaluate military shipments around the world stayed in effect.
While stockpile numbers are classified, the weapons Ukraine needs most aren't urgently required elsewhere and there was no immediate need to deny the country weapons that were already on their way, observers said.
On Friday, Trump had told reporters Ukraine would need Patriot missiles to defend itself, but he did not mention them again specifically on Monday. The Pentagon statement gave no details on the weapons to be shipped to Ukraine.
Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian airstrikes.
Germany said it was in talks on buying Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine to bridge the gap.
Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Trump.
The U.S. president's pledge to ship more arms to Ukraine came after Moscow said Monday that its forces captured its first village in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region after advancing toward it for months.
Russia launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage before the announcement, including on Ukraine's military recruitment centers.
Kyiv also said it carried out a drone attack on a Russian ammunition factory in the Moscow region.
Russia said its forces captured the village of Dachne in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial mining territory that has come under mounting Russian air attacks.
Last month, Moscow said its forces had crossed the border into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its campaign.
Russian forces appear to have made crossing the regional border a key strategic objective in recent months, and deeper advances there could pose logistical and economic problems for Ukraine.
Kyiv has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukraine's military said earlier Monday its forces "repelled" attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, including "in the vicinity" of Dachne.
Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
Describing the situation in Dnipropetrovsk as "difficult" for Kyiv's forces, Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Kopytko said Russia hopes to create some kind of buffer zone in the region.
"Our troops are holding their ground quite steadily," he said.
The White House said last week that it was halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine that were promised under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, without providing details on which weapons programs were affected.
It said the decision was taken after a review of U.S. defense needs and of its military assistance to foreign countries.
Kyiv has long feared halts to U.S. aid after Trump returned to the White House in January, having criticized the tens of billions of dollars in support and weapons sent by Biden.
Under the Biden administration, Washington committed to providing more than $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.
Trump has announced no new military aid packages for Kyiv since taking office for the second time.
The Republican president instead has pushed the two sides into peace talks, including in phone calls with Putin. The Russian leader has rejected pleas for a ceasefire and demanded that Ukraine cede more territory if it wants an end to the war.
Ahead of Trump's remarks on Monday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said air defense remained the "top priority for protecting lives," and his country was counting on partners to "fully deliver on what we have agreed."
Explosions were heard overnight to Tuesday in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych wrote on Telegram, adding that the "threat of drones" was ongoing.
Mykolaiv regional Gov. Vitaliy Kim said a fire broke out in the city's outskirts due to shelling and a 51-year-old man was wounded.
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