Trump will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine

FE Team | Published: July 15, 2025 00:36:16

NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters): US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, saying they are necessary to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin "talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening."
Trump did not give a number of Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, but he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union. The US president has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin because the Russian leader has resisted Trump's attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks from Russia.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington.
"We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100% for that, and that's the way we want it," Trump said.
He plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine and other issues this week.
US envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday for defence talks with senior leadership after US President Donald Trump announced new Patriot air defence systems supplies to Ukraine.
The visit -- more than three years into the Kremlin's invasion -- comes as Russian forces killed three civilians in east Ukraine and launched dozens of long-range drones at targets across the country.
"We welcome US Special Representative Keith Kellogg to Ukraine," Andriy Yermak, a top aide to the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
"Russia does not want to cease fire. Peace through strength is the principle of US President Donald Trump, and we support this approach," Yermak added, alongside images of him welcoming Kellogg at Kyiv's central train station.
Washington had said this month it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv but Trump has changed tack, criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin for intensifying attacks as US-led peace talks stalled.
Trump said this weekend Washington would also supply Kyiv with more Patriot air defence batteries, but added that the United States would not pay for them.