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Trump promises more weapons to Ukraine to 'defend themselves' against Russia
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters file
President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
The comments by Trump appeared to be an abrupt change in posture after the Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back delivering to Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that stockpiles have declined too much.
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'We have to,' Trump said. 'They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit very hard now. We're going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.'
The pause had come at a difficult moment for Ukraine, which has faced increasing — and more complex — air barrages from Russia during the more than three-year-long war. Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children, officials said Monday.
The U.S. turnaround on weapons for Ukraine
The move last week to abruptly pause shipments of Patriot missiles, precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds and weaponry took Ukrainian officials and other allies by surprise.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on whether the paused weapons shipments to Ukraine would resume.
Trump, speaking at the start of a dinner he was hosting for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, vented his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has struggled to find a resolution to the war in Ukraine but maintains he's determined to quickly conclude a conflict that he had promised as candidate to end of Day One of his second term.
He has threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia's oil industry to try to prod Putin into peace talks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last week that Trump has given him the go-ahead to push forward with a bill he's co-sponsoring that calls, in part, for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. The move would have huge ramifications for China and India, two economic behemoths that buy Russian oil.
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'I'm not happy with President Putin at all,' Trump said Monday.
Russia's transport minister is found dead
Separately, Russia's transport minister was found dead in what authorities said was an apparent suicide — news that broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by Putin.
The firing of Roman Starovoit followed a weekend of travel chaos — airports grounded hundreds of flights due to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine. Russian officials did not give a reason for his dismissal.
Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but Russian commentators said the air traffic disruptions have become customary amid frequent Ukrainian drone raids and were unlikely to have triggered his dismissal.
Starovoit, 53, served as Russia's transport minister since May 2024. Russian media have reported that his dismissal could have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he served as governor before being appointed transportation minister.
The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one of the reasons for deficiencies in Russia's defensive lines that failed to stem a surprise Ukrainian incursion in the region launched in August 2024.
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Russia fired more than 100 drones at civilian areas of Ukraine overnight, authorities said.
Russia recently has intensified its airstrikes on civilian areas. In the past week, Russia launched some 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and almost 1,000 powerful glide bombs at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Russia's bigger army also is trying hard to break through at some points along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) front line, where Ukrainian forces are severely stretched.
Ukraine calls for more military aid
The strain of keeping Russia's invasion at bay, the lack of progress in direct peace talks and last week's halt of some promised U.S. weapons shipments have compelled Ukraine to seek more military help from the U.S. and Europe.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the pause in weapons to Ukraine came as part of a 'standard review of all weapons and all aid' that the U.S. 'is providing all countries and all regions around the world. Not just Ukraine.'
Leavitt said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the global review to ensure that 'everything that's going out the door aligns with America's interests.'
Zelenskyy says Ukraine has signed deals with European allies and a leading U.S. defense company to step up drone production, ensuring Kyiv receives 'hundreds of thousands' more this year.
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'Air defense is the main thing for protecting life,' Zelenskyy wrote Monday on Telegram.
That includes developing and manufacturing interceptor drones that can stop Russia's long-range Shahed drones, he said.
Extensive use of drones also has helped Ukraine compensate for its troop shortages on the front line.
One person was killed in the southern city of Odesa, another person was killed and 71 were injured in northeastern Kharkiv, and falling drone debris caused damage in two districts of Kyiv, the capital, during nighttime drone attacks, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russian short-range drones also killed two people and injured two others in the northern Sumy region, officials said. Sumy is one of the places where Russia has concentrated large numbers of troops.
Also, nine people were injured and seven killed in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, regional head Vadym Filashkin said.
More Russian long-range drone strikes Monday targeted military mobilization centers for the third time in five days, in an apparent attempt to disrupt recruitment, Ukraine's Army Ground Forces command said.
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Regional officials in Kharkiv and southern Zaporizhzhia said at least 17 people were injured.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday that its troops shot down 91 Ukrainian drones in 13 Russian regions overnight, as well as over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
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