President Donald Trump on Monday said that his administration would be sending defensive weapons to Ukraine so the war-torn country could defend itself from Russia’s ongoing invasion, an apparent turnaround after the Pentagon said last week it was pausing such deliveries.
His comments came as Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children, officials said Monday.
"We have to," Trump said when questioned at the start of a dinner he was hosting at the White House for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We're going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily."
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Russia continues to advance and now currently controls just under a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, all of Luhansk, the lion's share of three other regions and slivers of three additional regions.
Trump's repeated efforts to broker a ceasefire have not been successful, and the president continued to vent his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who continues to escalate military actions.
"I'm not happy with President Putin at all," Trump said.
The Defense Department later said it would send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine at Trump's direction, to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while efforts continue to secure a lasting peace.
"Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.
Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.
Last week the Pentagon froze some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine, including Patriot missile interceptors and 155 mm artillery shells, at a pivotal moment in Kyiv’s war with Russia, Fox News confirmed. According to U.S. military officials tracking the shipments, the weapons were already staged in Poland before the order came down.
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It came as Russia launched its largest aerial attack of the war, nearly 500 drones and 60 missiles.
In response to Trump’s comments, the Kremlin said it would need time to clarify the specifics of U.S. weapons aid to Ukraine with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were many contradictory statements about U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine, though it was clear that European weapons deliveries were continuing.
"Obviously, supplies are continuing, that's clear. Obviously, the Europeans are actively involved in pumping Ukraine full of weapons," Peskov said, according to Reuters. "As for what kind of supplies and in what quantity Ukraine continues to receive from the United States, it will still take time to clarify this definitively," he added.
Peskov said that Moscow appreciated Trump's efforts to initiate direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and that there was significant potential for restarting Russian-U.S. trade and economic relations.
Separately, Russia’s transport minister Roman Starovoit was found dead in what authorities said was an apparent suicide — news that broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by Putin, per The Associated Press. Russian media have reported that his dismissal could have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he served as governor before being appointed transportation minister.
The firing of Starovoit followed a weekend of travel chaos — airports grounded hundreds of flights due to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine. Russian officials did not give a reason for his dismissal.
Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr and Jennifer Griffin as well as The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
