US will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine: Donald Trump

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said the United States will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine that will be reimbursed for by the European Union, offering critical help to Kyiv as it battles an onslaught of Russian drone attacks.

Trump did not specify how many weapons systems the United States would provide and told reporters it had not been agreed upon yet. The United States, Trump stressed, would not pay for them. He then heaped fresh criticism on Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he’s soured against in recent weeks.

“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need,” Trump said of Ukraine while speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews on July 13. “Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening. There’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing Trump to allow his country to purchase Patriot missile air defense systems from the United States as Russia intensifies its missile and drone attacks. Shipments of the missile systems that were previously approved were paused by a Pentagon review of U.S. military stockpiles and then resumed last week by Trump.

“Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help,” Zelenskyy said after a June 25 meeting with Trump.

While speaking to reporters after returning from the FIFA Club World Cup match in New Jersey, Trump said the United States would be sending Ukraine “sophisticated military” equipment. The plan was expected to be part of an Oval Office discussion at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Trump said in an interview with NBC News last week that the United States would be sending weapons to NATO that the military alliance would be paying for. “We are not paying for any more weapons,” Trump told NBC at the time.