President Donald Trump has said the United States will send more weapons to Ukraine, a decision that comes just days after pausing key arms deliveries to Kyiv.
Speaking on Monday, the US president explained that the reversal came in light of a spike of Russian aerial attacks against Ukraine.
“We have to,” Trump said of the decision to send Kyiv more weapons.
“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," he noted.
His comments came the week after the Pentagon announced it would delay shipments of air defence missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons to Ukraine, citing concerns about falling US stockpiles.
The pause came at a difficult time for Kyiv, as Russia has stepped up the intensity of its aerial bombardments.
On Monday, officials said Russian air strikes had killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children.
Trump's decision to send more weapons to Ukraine follows his phone call on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine's leader described it as a “very important and fruitful conversation”, writing in a social media post on X that they had agreed to "work together to strengthen protection of our skies".
The US president, who hopes to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, has signalled his growing frustration with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
During a dinner at the White House on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he was "not happy with President Putin at all".
Last Thursday, Trump held a call with the Russian president. Afterwards, he said it was "too bad" that the Kremlin leader was not looking to end the conflict.
The Pentagon confirmed Trump's message on Monday, saying it would resume weapons shipments to Ukraine “to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops".
