US to send Ukraine Patriot air defence systems: Trump

Sending Patriots to Ukraine is a significant step for the White House, and comes as Donald Trump hints at new sanctions on Russia, ahead of a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

A Patriot air missile system is fired during a live fire exercise. Picture; Reuters.

Donald Trump has confirmed Washington will send Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv and hinted at new sanctions on Russia, as he repeated his “disappointment” with Vladimir Putin over his intransigence on ceasefire talks.

The US President’s announcement of the much-needed weapons for Ukraine came after he earlier said he would make a “major statement … on Russia” on Monday, and ahead of a meeting with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte at the White House.

“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need,” Mr Trump told reporters, without specifying how many weapons he would send to Ukraine.

“I haven’t agreed on the number yet, but they’re going to have some because they do need protection.”

The move is a U-turn from an announcement earlier this month that Washington would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv, from which Mr Trump distanced himself last week and is a significant step for the White House. It is the first time the president has approved providing a major weapons system to Kyiv beyond the number authorised by the previous administration. Each Patriot consists of multiple launchers, a radar, a command and control element and interceptor missiles.

“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military and they’re going to pay us 100 per cent for them,” Mr Trump said.

“It’ll be business for us.

“Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.”

Earlier this week, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was “close to reaching a multi-level agreement on new Patriot systems and missiles for them”.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte and Donald Trump at The Hague. Picture: Getty Images.

NATO announced on Sunday that Mr Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and would hold talks with Mr Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of congress.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a top ally of Mr Trump, said on Sunday the conflict was nearing an inflection point as the President shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back Russia.

“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Senator Graham said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.”

Senator Graham and Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal, who also appeared on CBS, said there was also growing consensus on Capitol Hill and among European officials about tapping some of the $US300bn ($456bn) in Russian assets, frozen by Group of Seven countries early in the war, to help Ukraine.

“It’s time to do it,” Senator Blumenthal said.

Mr Rubio said on Friday that some of the US-made weapons Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, he explained.

“It’s a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (US) factory and get it there,” he told reporters last week during visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu in an interview published on Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche said European officials have been making the case to the Trump administration to bolster air defence capabilities with any coming packages.

He added that France is in a “capacity hole” and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine with new ground-to-air missiles.

Mr Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats, as well as European allies, to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia’s oil industry and hit Moscow with US sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The legislation, in part, calls for a 500 per cent tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would have an enormous impact on the economies of Brazil, China and India, which account for the vast majority of Russia’s energy trade.

“The big offender here is China, India and Brazil,” Senator Graham said. “My goal is to end this war. And the only way you are going to end this war is to get people who prop up Putin – make them choose between the American economy and helping Putin.”

That trade revenue is critical in helping keep the Russian war machine humming, as the US and Europe have imposed significant import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia, affecting sectors such as finance, energy, transport, technology and defence.

Mr Trump for months had threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia’s oil industry.

Congress has been prepared to act on the legislation, sponsored by senators Graham and Blumenthal, for some time.

The bill has overwhelming support in the Senate, but the Republican leadership has been waiting for Mr Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it.

The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation. Mr Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions, tariffs or other penalties, without having to cede control to congress.

Under the initial bill, the President “may terminate” the penalties under certain circumstances, but immediately reimpose them if the violations resume. Senator Graham has said the President would be allowed to waive the sanctions, for 180 days, and could also renew a waiver.

Some Democratic politicians have expressed concerns about the waivers. But Senator Blumenthal downplayed the differences and said the legislation would give Mr Trump a “sledgehammer” to use on Putin.

“The waiver language we will have in this bill is very much like the provisions that have existed in past similar measures,” he said. “What I think is most important right now is our unity.”

AP