President Donald Trump was set Monday to announce a new package of military aid for embattled Ukraine as his apparent feud with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin deepens.
As a Trump envoy met with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president was expected to send both defensive and offensive weaponry to Kyiv in what appears to be a significant shift in his approach to the three year-plus Russian invasion.
Trump lashed out at Putin late Sunday in a sign that he has finally lost patience with the Kremlin’s double talk after six months of inaction.
“I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,” Trump said late Sunday. “He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”
Trump last week teased a “major statement” on Russia expected later on Monday. Administration officials say he plans to send new Patriot missile defense systems and other weapons, mostly funneled through European and NATO allies.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.
Trump made stopping the war quickly one of his diplomatic priorities, even repeatedly claiming he could end the fighting in a single day. But Putin has stubbornly snubbed his demands for a ceasefire that could lead to peace talks.
Kremlin watchers say Trump played into Putin’s hands by caving to several Russian demands, like conceding that Ukraine would need to give up large swaths of territory seized by Russia, without getting any concessions in return.
Special envoy to Ukraine retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday, as anticipation grew over a possible shift.
Zelenskyy said the talks went well, in a sign he has turned the page on an ugly spat with Trump at the White House last winter that led the president to briefly cut off aid.
“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,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram social media site.
Russia has launched a major spring and summer offensive, seeking to push back Ukrainian troops along the front lines in the eastern Donbas region.
Putin has also irked Trump by ramping up drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets, seemingly ignoring his call for an end to the fighting.
