Donald Trump has indicated that the US will announce a plan to sell Patriot air defence systems and other weapons to Ukraine later on Monday, amid growing White House exasperation with Russia’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire.
The president told reporters on Sunday as he returned from the Club World Cup final that the US would “send them various pieces of very sophisticated military and they’re going to pay us 100% for them”.
“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need,” Trump added, describing the impending announcement as “business for us”.
Though Trump did not spell out exactly who would fund the purchases, it is expected to involve European countries. Last week the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Berlin was “ready to acquire” additional Patriot systems.
A German government spokesperson said on Monday morning that European partners would contribute directly to the purchase of Patriot systems, and that more than three were involved. The country’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, was in Washington to discuss further details, Berlin said.
Trump said last week he would make a “major statement” on Ukraine on Monday. He has become frustrated with his lack of progress in persuading Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire and an end to the war.
On Sunday Trump reiterated that he was disappointed with the Russian president. “Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening,” he said, confirming the change in sentiment.
During the election campaign Trump said he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, and following his victory began a series of bilateral discussions with Putin in an effort to broker a ceasefire. But these failed to progress as Russia made maximalist territorial demands, while stepping up its bombing of Ukraine’s cities.
At least six civilians were reported by Ukrainian regional officials to have been killed and 30 injured by Russian bombing in the last 24 hours. The country’s air force said Russia had attacked with 136 drones and four S-300 or S-400 missiles.
One Trump ally, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, said in a television interview on Sunday: “In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves.” He accused Putin of miscalculating by trying to “play Trump” and said a “massive effort” would be made to bring “Putin to the table”.
The president’s predecessor, Joe Biden, donated $67bn worth of weapons to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Until now Trump has been reluctant to authorise any additional weapons transfers of any kind – but he has never ruled out selling American arms to Kyiv.
Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday, where he will meet Trump, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, and members of Congress. But Nato is not expected to be involved in funding arms purchases, Germany said.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday morning to discuss next steps with Ukrainian leaders. In the past the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has indicated that Kyiv would be willing to pay for weapons shipments, possibly funded from the future proceeds of a deal already agreed with the US to exploit rare earth deposits.
On Sunday evening Zelenskyy promised he would be comprehensively briefed on the military situation and said he was confident of US support. “We count on the United States fully understanding what can be done to compel Russia to peace,” he said in an overnight address.
Progress has also been made on introducing a sanctions bill in Congress, which would give Trump the option of imposing punitive tariffs of up to 500% on countries that buy oil from Russia, such as China, India and Brazil.
The bill, co-sponsored by Graham and the Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, was drafted in April, but has yet to proceed because it was not clear the White House would support it.
Objections have been gradually dissipating amid Putin’s refusal to budge and White House demands that Trump be given flexibility in how any penalties are applied or removed.
Graham said in an interview with CBS on Sunday that “a turning point regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is coming” and described the sanctions bill as “a sledgehammer available to President Trump to go after Putin’s economy”.
