U.S. President Donald Trump announced new weapons including Patriotic air defense missile for Ukraine could be on way soon and threatened sanctions on countries that buy Russian products if Moscow does not agree to peace deal within 50 days.
The move comes after months of Trump’s outreach to Moscow made no headway toward ending the Ukraine war that flared up in February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country.
As per the new plan, NATO allies will buy the U.S. weapons and then transfer them to Ukraine, which has long demanded missile defense reinforcement in the face of deadly Russian attacks.
Speaking at the White House alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said he disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and that billions of dollars of U.S. weapons would go to Ukraine.
“We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” the U.S president said at the Oval Office.
Trump indicated that all of 17 Patriot batteries ordered by other countries could soon be sent to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Rutte said several European countries including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands as well as Canada have signaled their readiness to be part of the effort to replenish war supplies for Ukraine.
Moscow has continued to unleash attacks on Ukraine despite sweeping U.S. and European Union sanction against it.
Trump suggested that if Putin does not agree to end the war within 50 days, Washington would impose sanctions on both Russian goods and the countries that purchase Russian energy.
China and India are among the biggest Russian oil importers, something that has allowed Moscow to offset the impact of Western sanctions.
“We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs,” Trump said.
“If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100%.”
The latest U.S. commitment to ensure quick defense boost Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s defense against Russia, which last week launched a huge aerial attack on the country’s infrastructure involving hundreds of missiles and drones.
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