Latest news with #armsdeal
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Moscow rejects ‘enormous' and ‘indecent' western pressure over Ukraine
Moscow has rejected western 'ultimatums' and accused the European Union and Nato of putting 'indecent' pressure on US president Donald Trump, after he agreed a new deal on arms for Ukraine and gave Russia 50 days to reach peace with Kyiv or face 'severe' tariffs on trade. 'It is clear that he is under enormous – I would say indecent – pressure from the European Union and the current Nato leadership, which unceremoniously supports the demands of [Ukraine] and continues to pump [it] full of modern weapons, including offensive ones,' Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday in China. He also noted that Mr Trump previously pledged to end Europe's biggest war since 1945 in one day, and that his administration aimed for a significant breakthrough in peace efforts by the time he marked 100 days in office in April. 'We want to understand what is behind this statement: 50 days. It used to be 24 hours. And 100 days. We have been through all this before and really want to understand what is motivating the US president,' Mr Lavrov said. READ MORE Mr Trump said on Monday he was 'very, very unhappy' with Russian president Vladimir Putin after several conservations that he thought had brought peace within reach. Later, he told the BBC he was 'disappointed in him, but I'm not done with him'. Russia and countries that buy its oil would face 100 per cent tariffs unless Mr Putin reached a peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days, Mr Trump said, while also announcing plans to sell 'billions' of dollars' worth of weaponry to Nato for subsequent delivery to Kyiv. 'Above all, we note that any attempts to make demands, especially ultimatums, are unacceptable to us,' said Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov. 'We need to focus on political and diplomatic work. The president of the Russian Federation has said repeatedly that we are ready to negotiate and the diplomatic path is preferable for us,' he added. 'However, if this is not met with a proper response, if we cannot reach our set goals through diplomacy, then the special military operation will continue ... We would like Washington and Nato in general to treat this with the utmost seriousness.' Russia calls its full-scale invasion of pro-western Ukraine a 'special military operation', and says it will go on until Kyiv and the West accept its occupation of five regions of Ukraine and the country abandons its ambition to join Nato. 'The US president's statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin. We will certainly need time to analyse the rhetoric from Washington,' said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He also said the new US-Nato deal on arms for Kyiv was 'taken by the Ukrainian side not as a signal for peace but as a signal to prolong the war.' Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia who is now deputy chairman of its security council, gave a typically blunt response to Mr Trump's announcement: 'Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn't care.' Some politicians and commentators in Ukraine questioned why Mr Trump gave Russia another 50 days to keep bombarding the country before imposing tariffs, but Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked him for his 'willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace.' Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal resigned on Tuesday as part of a government reshuffle. He is tipped to become defence minister and to be replaced as premier by the current economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump is looking at making money out of Nato
Donald Trump has not turned against Vladimir Putin. Rather, he has just announced a big day of future sales for the US arms industry with a buying bonanza for Ukraine by Nato. With the secretary general of Nato sitting next to him in the Oval Office, the US president warned that Russia would face '100 per cent' tariffs if it did not agree to a ceasefire with Kyiv inside 50 days. He went on to criticise Putin several times for his warm approach and manner on the telephone which he then followed up by renewed missile attacks on Ukraine. 'I wouldn't call him an assassin, but I would call him a very tough guy,' he said of the Russian president. Donald Trump meets Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in the Oval Office (AP) However, unveiling what he had teased in the days before as a 'major statement' on Putin, Trump's agreement to what both he and Rutte called a 'very big' deal to sell weapons to Nato, which could then be sent on to Ukraine, had no details. 'We've made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons and they're [Nato] going to be paying for them,' the president said. 'The United States will not be having any payment made. We're not buying it, but we will manufacture it and they're going to be paying for it.' It is not the first deal Trump has struck in the war, with an agreement made directly with Ukraine earlier this year to trade mineral profits for arms sales, although none have been ordered through this mechanism. For Volodymyr Zelensky, today's news was significant as he has been trying since February to find ways to buy US weapons either directly, or through allies like the UK and others in Nato. Nato is generally not restricted in its arms purchases from fellow members, but Washington has imposed some conditions on whether they can be sold or given to other countries. Now Trump has declared that the delivery of Patriot air defence missiles, which are badly needed by Ukraine to counter the record levels of Russian attacks in the last month, can start soon. Members of US 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command stand next to a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery during a Nato exercise (AP) In addition, there may be packages of weapons that could include long-range rockets and missiles for deep strikes inside Russia – which could have a tactical and even a strategic impact. Ukraine has shown lately that with stealth and guile it has been able to use intelligence agents and drones to devastating effect over thousands of miles of Russian territory. But more long-range cruise missiles like the Storm Shadow currently being supplied by the UK and France would be welcome. Yet it should be aware that there's no guarantee that if Putin signals he's happy to enter ceasefire talks that Trump will not turn off the arms supply spigot for Kyiv. He already did so earlier this year – and for a while also blinded Ukraine's intelligence feeds from US assets. For his part, Rutte was keen to make sure that Trump got all the credit for a drift of policy away from backing every position adopted by Putin, towards some support for Nato. 'The decision is that you want Ukraine... to be able to defend itself against Russia,' the head of Nato said. 'But you want Europeans to pay for it, which is totally logical. And this is building on the tremendous success of the Nato summit.' Trump said he hoped that the arms deal with Nato would have an impact on both sides and acknowledged that Ukraine might be emboldened by fresh supplies from the US. But the key phrase in Monday's meandering Oval Office performance was that 'we have certain parameters that both sides know, and we already know what should be done'. Soldiers of Ukraine's 30th Separate Mechanised Brigade fire a Grad multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions in the Donetsk region (AP) By this Trump means, and has repeatedly said, that Ukraine must accept it has lost the areas currently occupied by the Kremlin's forces (about 20 per cent of its land mass and including Crimea); that the US will not guarantee Ukraine's future security and that Kyiv should forever give up on joining Nato. Taking these positions at the outset of his second presidency blindsided Kyiv and US allies across the world. So while Trump's agreement to sell guns and ammunition to Kyiv is a small shift based on personal irritation, it's not a strategic move. Ukraine and her allies will put those weapons to urgent use before he veers back again to Putin – which they must assume he will.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
What We Know About the U.S. Deal for a Weapons Pipeline to Ukraine
Patriot air defense systems, missiles and ammunition are among the American-made weapons NATO allies will buy under an arms deal brokered with President Trump to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian attacks, officials say. Nearly all of the weapons are immediately available to ship to Ukraine, officials said, meaning they are either from existing military stockpiles or have just been built. Mr. Trump portrayed the new agreement as lucrative for the United States, despite giving few details on how it would be enacted. 'It's a very big deal we've made,' Mr. Trump said on Monday from the Oval Office alongside Mark Rutte, NATO's secretary general. 'You have very wealthy countries buying the best equipment in the world, and we have the best equipment in the world,' Mr. Trump said. 'We make equipment like no other.' Mr. Rutte said that at least eight NATO countries were ready to pay for the arms and praised Mr. Trump for helping Ukraine obtain 'what it needs to have to maintain, to be able to defend itself, against Russia.' 'But you do want Europeans to pay for it, which is totally logical,' Mr. Rutte said. More Ukrainians were killed in June than in any other single month so far in the three-year war, the United Nations reported. Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump is warned he is pushing Putin towards nuclear war with his decision to arm Ukraine and hit Russia with more sanctions
Donald Trump was today warned by Moscow that he is pushing Russia towards nuclear war with his new go-ahead for arms to Ukraine and the threat of punitive sanctions. State TV propagandist and war pundit Aleksandr Sladkov said: 'Trump is trying to scare us with missiles, but this is difficult to do. 'Trump should be scared. Everyone is trying to push us to turn Kyiv and Lviv into Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' The Ukrainian leadership - in calling for new missiles to strike Russia - 'is taking the most active part in this'. The new Trump deal green lights the supply of a possible $10 billion worth of defensive and offensive missiles and other arms, to be paid for by US allies in Europe along with Canada, as well as the threat of sledgehammer sanctions if Putin refuses to negotiate in 50 days. Sladkov declared: 'Imagine our country under attack by American cruise missiles, like Yugoslavia, Iraq, etc. I am sure that the Yars should go in response.' Yars are Russia's main land-based strategic nuclear weapons - each missile typically carries three or four nuclear warheads. Each has a yield estimated between 100 and 300 kilotons, making each warhead between seven and 20 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Frothing Putin TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov claimed the arming of Ukraine by NATO meant a full scale war. 'The question is about the survival of our country,' he fumed on Kremlin-funded state TV. 'We are already at war. It cannot be avoided. 'The [Western] task is to destroy our country. We are not fighting in Ukraine, we are fighting with NATO. Understand this already.' This came as it was claimed the US president had quizzed Volodymyr Zelensky on why he did not heap pressure on Vladimir Putin by attacking capital city Moscow, a disclosure likely to further infuriate Moscow. 'We can if you give us the weapons,' Zelensky replied, according to the Washington Post. It has emerged the US considered approving long range Tomahawk cruise missiles for Kyiv, but for now has not done so, but evidently has approved using American-supplied ATACMS missiles inside Russia to a fuller range of almost 200 miles. Ultranationalist politician Leonid Slutsky, leader of the hardline Liberal Democratic Party, said: 'As for the talk about preparations for resuming the process of missile deliveries to the Ukrainian junta: this will certainly be a step back, but will not fundamentally change the situation on the front for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 'The goals of the [war] will be achieved in any case - either through negotiations or on the battlefield.' Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev mocked a 'theatrical' Trump, suggesting Putin won't care over the White House ultimatum. He posted on X: 'Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn't care.' Overnight, Putin for the second day running succession avoided mass drone and missile strikes on Ukraine. But attacks carried on in war zone regions where he is seeking to invade more territory. In Kharkiv, a 68-year-old woman was injured in a night attack on the region. Houses and four outbuildings burned down in new attacks on civilians. In Zaporizhzhia, two people were wounded in an attack on Huliaipole city. Kherson was also hit by Russian forces. Ukraine staged attacks on military facilities deep inside Russia with a new drone strike on Energiya enterprise at Yelets in Liuptsk region - which makes the chemical-based power sources for multiple Russian weapons including Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Residents reported explosions and footage indicated the plant had been hit in a barrage of a dozen drones. Voronezh was also hit with reports of 15 wounded including a baby aged one. Matthew Whitaker, permanent US Representative to NATO, insisted the Trump about turn on arms supplies to Ukraine will bring peace. 'What this says to Vladimir Putin is very loud and clear which is - we have given you a chance for peace. 'President Trump is a peacemaker, but if you want war, we will arm Ukraine - and Europe will pay for it. 'It's actually a great step in ultimately bringing this war to a conclusion, to an end. 'In the last 18 months Russia has gained about one per cent of Ukrainian land. 'They are making no success, they are losing thousands of soldiers every single day.'
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
After Trump Deal, Ukraine's Fortunes Hinge On How Fast NATO Can Deliver Arms
WASHINGTON—President Trump's decision to sell Patriot air-defense systems and other arms for use by Ukraine could provide a badly needed boost to Kyiv in its war with Russia. But the central questions are how long will it take to get the new weapons into Ukraine and in what quantity. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been stepping up his missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine with the calculation that it will provide Moscow with a growing edge in a costly but largely stalemated conflict.
