US president says Ukraine should be capable of defend itself and is ‘getting hit very exhausting’.
United States President Donald Trump has mentioned his administration will ship extra weapons to Ukraine after an earlier resolution to halt some arms shipments drew condemnation from Kyiv and its supporters.
Chatting with reporters forward of a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on Monday, Trump mentioned the brand new shipments could be primarily comprised of “defensive weapons”.
“We’re going to ship some extra weapons. We now have to. They’ve to have the ability to defend themselves,” Trump mentioned.
“They’re getting hit very exhausting now.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed Trump’s feedback in a while Monday, saying that Washington would supply “extra defensive weapons” to “make sure the Ukrainians can defend themselves whereas we work to safe a long-lasting peace and make sure the killing stops”.
Parnell added that Trump would proceed to guage navy shipments abroad in accordance with “our America First defence priorities”.
Trump’s pledge got here after Russia introduced on Monday that it had captured the Ukrainian village of Dachne, in Dnipropetrovsk, following a months-long push to grab territory within the central area.
The choice additionally follows an announcement by the Pentagon final week that it will halt deliveries of some weapons, together with air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, out of concern that stockpiles had been working too low.
After a telephone name with Trump on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he had agreed along with his US counterpart to work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.
“We spoke about alternatives in air defence and agreed that we’ll work collectively to strengthen safety of our skies,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a put up on X.
Trump on Friday described the decision as “excellent” and mentioned his administration was “” promoting extra Patriot missiles to Kyiv.
“They want them for defence. I don’t wish to see individuals killed,” Trump informed reporters on Air Pressure One.