US to send 'more weapons' to Ukraine, says Trump
Mr Trump's announcement followed the US saying last week that it was halting some weapons shipments to Ukraine, leaving Ukrainian officials caught off guard and scrambling for clarity.
A pause poses a potentially serious challenge for Ukraine, which is contending with some of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the more than three-year war.
"We're going to have to send more weapons - defensive weapons primarily," Mr 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.
Mr Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Mr Trump.
The US president's pledge to ship more arms to Ukraine came after Russia said yesterday that its forces captured its first village in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region after advancing towards it for months.
Russia launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage before the announcement, including on Ukraine's military recruitment centres.
Ukraine also said it carried out a drone attack on a Russian ammunition factory in the Moscow region.
'Difficult' situation
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, Russia 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.
Ukraine has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukraine's military said earlier 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 Russia has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
Describing the situation in Dnipropetrovsk as "difficult" for Ukraine'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 told AFP.
Counting on partners
The White House said last week that it was halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine that were promised under President Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, without providing details on which weapons programmes were affected.
It said the decision was taken after a review of US defence needs and of its military assistance to foreign countries.
Ukraine has long feared halts to US aid after Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, having criticised the tens of billions of dollars in support and weapons sent by Mr Biden.
Under the Biden administration, the US committed to providing more than $65 billion (€55.3bn) in military assistance to Ukraine.
Mr Trump has announced no new military aid packages for Ukraine since taking office for the second time.
The Republican president instead has pushed the two sides into peace talks, including in phone calls with Mr 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 Mr Trump's remarks yesterday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said air defence 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 in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, mayor Oleksandr Senkevych wrote on Telegram, adding that the "threat of drones" was ongoing.
Mykolaiv regional governor 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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