Latest news with #Mark Rutte
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The 'massive' extent of new U.S. lethal arms package to Ukraine revealed as Republicans debate sending more aid
NATO Secretary Mark Rutte said the new flow of arms form the U.S. to Ukraine will be 'massive' – with further munitions packages to follow following talks with President Trump. Rutte described the package in comments to the Daily Mail as he briefed lawmakers on a scheme to use the new financing proposal to funnel lethal weaponry to Ukraine as it staves off repeated Russian drone and missile attacks. The former Dutch PM is meeting with lawmakers still assessing President Donald Trump 's sudden U-turn on Ukraine – if the president applying new pressure on Moscow even while continuing to say American taxpayers have borne too much of the burden, and has publicly refused to pick sides in the war. 'How do you say it in English? Infinite – it's not finite,' Rutte told the Daily Mail between meetings in the Senate. 'This will be packages designed … to make sure that Ukrainians get a handle what they need, of course, taking into account what US can deliver, because you also still have to make sure that you have enough stuff and gear here to defend yourselves,' he said. 'But this is potentially massive. And not only air defense, it is also missiles and ammunition,' he added. He stressed that the proposal is designed to make sure that 'you have enough in stock for yourself,' amid concerns among top Pentagon officials who ordered a temporary pause to aid while it assessed U.S. stockpiles. He said the 'potentially massive air defense, plus missiles and ammunition' packages still had to be arranged at the granular level. 'But NATO is good at this, because we have designed these packages over three and a half years now with Ukrainian.' Rutte spoke a day after meeting with Trump in the office. The president deferred to Rutte in response to a question by the Daily Mail about whether there was a ceiling on what the Europeans are willing to meet. 'It's not that you can have a shopping list and you can order whatever you want, because the U.S. has to make sure that the U.S. keeps his hands on what US needs also to keep the whole world safe. Because in the end, you are the police agent of the whole world.' He brought up Germany and other major NATO allies 'talking about big numbers.' 'They are really enthusiastic about this. They're willing to go very far, I will tell you,' Trump added. As he left the White House today, Trump denied a key element of Financial Times report that Trump had a fiery conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky July 4 where he encouraged the Ukrainian to strike deep inside Russian territory. 'Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? . . . Can you hit St Petersburg too?' Trump asked his counterpart, according to the report. Asked if Zelensky should target Moscow, Trump replied: 'No, he shouldn't target Moscow.' Trump defended his latest statements toward Russia – that he will impose 'secondary tariffs' after 50 days if there is no deal with Moscow. 'What we decided is us making up its stockpiles available for Ukraine, paid for better Europeans, in a way, of course, that you have enough in stock for yourself. Potentially massive air defense, plus missiles and ammunition. But of course, all the details now will be work through.
The Independent
20 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Why Russian markets jumped after Trump's tariff threat against Putin
Speaking alongside Nato chief Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced 100 per cent tariffs for Russia if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days. But rather than be spooked, the Russian stock market rose by 2.7 per cent. Russia had been expecting tougher sanctions from Trump with local media bracing the country for a fresh confrontation. 'Russia and America are moving towards a new round of confrontation over Ukraine,' a Russian tabloid initially warned on Monday, before the meeting. 'Trump's Monday surprise will not be pleasant for our country.' Instead the 50 day timeline gives Russia time to negotiate and delay the sanctions. The new tariffs act as secondary sanctions targeting countries that buy Russian oil, as Moscow and Washington have almost no trade relationship following Biden's sanctions. 'If President Trump follows through on his threat to impose secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian energy, leading to a sharp drop in Russian energy flows, it would invariably lead to higher global energy prices,' said Kieran Tompkins, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics. But Mr Tompkins added: 'The 50-day deadline maintains the possibility that the oil market will avoid any disruption whatsoever and because the tariff rate is lower than the 500 percent contained in Lindsey Graham's Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025.' While Trump may have performed below market expectations, his announcement marked a tougher rhetorical stance towards Putin. 'I'm disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there,' he said. The president also hinted that the First Lady, Melania Trump, may have contributed to his decision to send Patriot missiles. 'I go home, I tell the first lady, 'I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.' And she says, 'Oh really, another city was just hit',' he said from the Oval Office. The first lady was born behind the Iron Curtain in 1970 and grew up in former Yugoslavia.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump ‘disappointed but not done' with Putin
Donald Trump said he is 'disappointed but not done' with Vladimir Putin after promising to send more weapons to Ukraine and threatening Russia's trading partners with tariffs if a peace deal is not agreed. The US president expressed his dismay that despite appearing close to a resolution on multiple occasions, Russian strikes on Ukraine continued. 'I thought we had a deal done four times and then you go home and you see he just attacked a nursing home or something in Kyiv,' Mr Trump told the BBC. 'I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed in him.' The US president was pressed on whether he trusts the Russian leader, and replied: 'I trust almost no-one.' The president was speaking after threatening Russia's main trading partners with 100 per cent tariffs if Vladimir Putin does not sign a peace deal to end the war in 50 days. Mr Trump also promised to send billions of dollars of military equipment to Ukraine in a deal paid for by other Nato countries. He did so yesterday alongside Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato, which he said was no longer 'obsolete' because allies have committed to boost defence spending to five per cent of GDP. 'I think Nato is now becoming the opposite of [obsolete] because the alliance was 'paying their own bills'.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Is Expected to Announce New Weapons Pipeline for Ukraine
President Trump is expected to announce on Monday a new arms supply for Ukraine, including more advanced Patriot missile defense batteries, that NATO member countries will pay for. The NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, who has been coordinating the plan, is expected to join Mr. Trump for the announcement in Washington. Mr. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would send the missiles to Ukraine to help defend the country against Russia's invasion, and again criticized President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, saying he 'talks nice but then he bombs everyone in the evening.' Mr. Trump has expressed increasing disappointment and anger with Mr. Putin over Russia's refusal to agree to a cease-fire more than three years after its full-scale invasion and has at times threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow. So far he has not done so, although he is being pressed by allies like Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. Mr. Graham, a strong advocate of helping Ukraine to defend itself, has cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would hit the Russian economy hard in hopes of pressuring Moscow to end the war. Mr. Rutte has been coordinating the purchase of American weapons by other NATO member states to supply to Ukraine after it became clear that Mr. Trump was unwilling to provide any more through direct aid. Mr. Trump has not blocked the sending of American weapons to Kyiv under an aid package that Congress authorized during former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s term. That money is expected to run out later this summer. On Sunday, Mr. Trump said that the United States would send Ukraine the Patriots 'they desperately need.' The number was under discussion, he added. 'But the European Union will pay us 100 percent for them,' he said, which is not strictly accurate, given that individual member countries will pay, not the European Union or NATO itself. Of the 27 E.U. nations, 23 are also members of NATO. Boris Pistorius, Germany's minister of defense, will also be in Washington to meet with his American counterpart, Pete Hegseth, as will Mr. Rutte. Germany has offered to buy two Patriot systems to give to Ukraine, while Norway has offered to purchase one. The Patriot system is both expensive and in short supply, but it is thought to be the only effective defense against Russia's best ballistic and hypersonic missiles, which have been clobbering Ukrainian cities and infuriating Mr. Trump. In addition to Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth, Mr. Rutte was also set to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio and members of Congress, including Mr. Graham.
CNN
5 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Trump says he struck deal to send US weapons to Ukraine through NATO
President Donald Trump told NBC on Thursday he struck a deal with NATO for the US to send weapons to Ukraine through the alliance, and that NATO will pay for those weapons 'a hundred percent.' 'We're sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, a hundred percent,' the president told NBC News' Kristen Welker in a phone interview Thursday. 'We're going to be sending Patriots to NATO, and then NATO will distribute that,' he said, according to NBC News. CNN has reached out to NATO for comment. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte spoke to Trump earlier Thursday. 'Earlier today I urged leaders to go further so Ukraine has more ammunition & air defences,' Rutte posted on X. 'I've just spoken with President Trump & am now working closely with Allies to get Ukraine the help they need.' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said earlier Thursday that the United States is 'actively' talking to countries in Europe about sharing Patriot batteries with Ukraine. 'There are other Patriot batteries and there are other opportunities. Countries that have ordered Patriot batteries that are about to receive shipments of them, it'd be great if one of them volunteered to defer that shipment and send it to Ukraine instead,' Rubio told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Earlier this week, Trump hinted that the administration was mulling whether to send another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. 'They would like it, they've asked for it — they're very rare indeed, because a lot of systems have been sent to Ukraine,' Trump said Wednesday. 'But they would like to, I know they made the request. We're gonna have to take a look at it. Very expensive, very expensive system.' In his Thursday interview with NBC News, the president also previewed that he would make a 'major statement' on Russia on Monday but did not provide additional details. 'I'm disappointed in Russia … a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,' the president said. CNN's Kevin Liptak and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
