Summary of the day
Donald Trump announced in a meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte that the US would send Patriot anti-aircraft batteries and interceptor missiles to Ukraine, paid for by European allies.
He promised that additional Patriot systems would arrive within days, funded by Germany and other Nato partners, which would be a significant step in helping Ukraine to defend itself. Kyiv is believed to have only six functioning Patriot batteries.
Here are the key moments of today:
Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened with secondary tariffs of up to 100% if there is no progress on peace deal within 50 days (17:17).
Trump said “it’s got to stop,” with criticising “all talk” from Putin as Russia continued its attacks on Ukrainian cities (17:28, 17:46)
Trump confirmed a deal with Nato allies, mostly from Europe, on new weapon deliveries that will help Ukraine (17:21).
Trump said of Putin: ““I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”
Rutte said Ukraine will “get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment” for air defence and on missiles to fight back against Russia, and urged Putin to take Trump’s warning seriously (17:27).
Separately, Trump suggested he was still open for trade talks with the EU, saying the bloc’s representatives were “coming over” soon (17:39).
The European Commission could put forward a new list of US goods worth €72bn that could be targeted by EU levies if tariff talks with Washington fail. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said the proposal was shared with EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he asked the first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko to “lead the government” and become the new prime minister of the wartorn country.
Analysis - Trump’s hazy Ukraine arms announcement marks a tonal U-turn
For those looking for details, Donald Trump’s rambling half-hour press conference in the Oval Office with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, offered only a handful of clues. The US will sell weapons to Ukraine, the president said, with other Nato countries paying the bill – but otherwise specifics were scant.
No sums of money were mentioned – making it hard to calibrate how much of a difference the proposed weapon supply would make to Kyiv. Details were light on what munitions would be supplied though Trump mentioned complete Patriot missile systems and Rutte added there would be “missiles and ammunition” too.
It is hard to know precisely what amount of military purchases would make a difference and perhaps force Vladimir Putin to consider calling for a ceasefire. But in the crudest sense, any package worth more than $10bn would certainly send a signal to Moscow, when considered in the light of the $67bn previously given by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, to Ukraine over nearly three years.
Read the full analysis below:
