Trump says US will send Ukraine Patriot air defence systems
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1News
an hour ago
- 1News
Trump threatens Russia with tariffs and boosts US weapons for Ukraine
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened Russia with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance toward Moscow after months of frustration about unsuccessful negotiations for ending the war. The latest steps reflect an evolving approach from the Republican president, who promised to swiftly resolve the war Russian President Vladimir Putin started when he invaded Ukraine three years ago. Trump has often criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for allowing the war to happen, but more recently has expressed growing irritation toward Putin. 'It just keeps going on and on and on,' Trump said. 'Every night, people are dying.' Trump said he would implement 'severe tariffs' unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but he described them as secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy. 'I use trade for a lot of things,' Trump added. 'But it's great for settling wars.' ADVERTISEMENT See more on this story on TVNZ+ Trump also said that European allies would buy 'billions and billions' of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country's supplies of weapons. He made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Included in the plan are Patriot air defence systems, a top priority for Ukraine as it fends off Russian drones and missiles. Doubts were recently raised about Trump's commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that US stockpiles were running low. Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He said: 'Speed is of the essence here,' and he said the shipments should make Putin 'reconsider' peace negotiations. Trump exasperated with Putin President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January, repeatedly asserted that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a 'dictator without elections'. But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to 'STOP!' launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!' as the bombardments continued. Meanwhile, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday. Zelensky said he had 'a productive conversation' with Kellogg about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin. 'We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,' Zelensky said on Telegram. Talks on sending Patriot missiles People look at a damaged residential building following Russian air attack in Lviv, Ukraine (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said. At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000-kilometre front line. Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and that the European Union will pay the US for the 'various pieces of very sophisticated' weaponry. While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, individual EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons. Germany has offered to finance two Patriot systems, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Tuesday in Berlin. As for other European countries financing more systems, that would have to be discussed in talks, he said. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was travelling to Washington on Monday to meet with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Germany has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine, and Pistorius was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times that it now has only six. ADVERTISEMENT 'Weapons flowing at a record level' Firefighters work at the site of Russian air attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Source: Associated Press) A top ally of Trump, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Monday that the conflict is nearing an inflexion point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money. 'In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,' Graham said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' He added: 'One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.' Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment who took part in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington. 'Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,' Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. 'This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.'
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Trump threatens Russia sanctions, unveils Ukraine weapons plan
US President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine on Monday, and threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees a peace deal, a major policy shift brought on by frustration with Moscow's ongoing attacks on its neighbor. But Trump's threat of sanctions came with a 50-day grace period, a move that was welcomed by investors in Russia where the rouble recovered from earlier losses and stock markets rose. Sitting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and that billions of dollars of US weapons would go to Ukraine. "We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to Nato," Trump said, adding that Washington's Nato allies would pay for them. The weapons would include Patriot air defence missiles Ukraine has urgently sought. "It's a full complement with the batteries," Trump said. "We're going to have some come very soon, within days... a couple of the countries that have Patriots are going to swap over and will replace the Patriots with the ones they have." Some or all of 17 Patriot batteries ordered by other countries could be sent to Ukraine "very quickly", he said. Rutte said Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada all wanted to be a part of rearming Ukraine. Trump's threat to impose so-called secondary sanctions on Russia, if carried out, would be a major shift in Western sanctions policy. Lawmakers from both US political parties are pushing for a bill that would authorise such measures, targeting other countries that buy Russian oil. Throughout the more than three-year-old war, Western countries have cut most of their own financial ties to Moscow, but have held back from taking steps that would restrict Russia from selling its oil elsewhere. That has allowed Moscow to continue earning hundreds of billions of dollars from shipping oil to buyers such as China and India. "We're going to be doing secondary tariffs," Trump said. "If we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple, and they'll be at 100%." A White House official said Trump was referring to 100% tariffs on Russian goods as well as secondary sanctions on other countries that buy its exports. Eighty-five of the 100 US senators are co-sponsoring a bill that would give Trump the authority to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia, but the chamber's Republican leaders have been waiting for Trump to give them the go-ahead for a vote. In Kyiv, people welcomed the announcement but some remained cautious about Trump's intentions. 'I am pleased that finally European politicians, with their patience and convictions, have slightly swayed him (Trump) to our side, because from the very beginning it was clear that he did not really want to help us,' said Denys Podilchuk, a 39-year-old dentist in Kyiv. GRACE PERIOD Artyom Nikolayev, an analyst from financial information firm Invest Era, said Trump did not go as far as Russian markets had feared. "Trump performed below market expectations. He gave 50 days during which the Russian leadership can come up with something and extend the negotiation track. Moreover, Trump likes to postpone and extend such deadlines," he said. Asked about Trump's remarks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an immediate ceasefire was needed to pave the way for a political solution and "whatever can contribute to these objectives will, of course, be important if it is done in line with international law." Since returning to the White House promising a quick end to the war, Trump has sought rapprochement with Moscow, speaking several times with Putin. His administration has pulled back from pro-Ukrainian policies such as backing Kyiv's membership in Nato and demanding Russia withdraw from all Ukrainian territory. But Putin has yet to accept a proposal from Trump for an unconditional ceasefire, which was quickly endorsed by Kyiv. Recent days have seen Russia use hundreds of drones to attack Ukrainian cities. Trump said his shift was motivated by frustration with Putin, who talked about peace but continued to strike Ukrainian cities. "I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy," he said. "We actually had probably four times a deal. And then the deal wouldn't happen because bombs would be thrown out that night and you'd say we're not making any deals," he said. Last week he said, "We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin." US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump's announcement was "positive, but overdue" and he needed to commit "to a sustained flow of security assistance to Ukraine over the long term" if he wanted Putin to negotiate and the war to end. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg on Monday. Zelenskiy said they discussed "the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer", including "strengthening Ukraine's air defence, joint production and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe." An air-raid alert was declared in Kyiv shortly after Zelenskiy's talks with Kellogg. Separately on Monday, Zelenskiy said he would replace his long-serving Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal with Shmyhal's first deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, an economist who played a key role in negotiations between Kyiv and Washington on a minerals deal. Her appointment will require parliamentary approval. Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and holds about one-fifth of Ukraine. Its forces are slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine and Moscow shows no sign of abandoning its main war goals.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump says he is 'very unhappy' with Russia
politics conflict 14 minutes ago US President Donald Trump says he is 'very very unhappy' with Russia, and will impose 'very severe' secondary tariffs of 100 percent if there isn't a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days. Washington correspondent Nick Harper spoke to Corin Dann.
