US President Donald Trump unveiled a plan Monday to arm Ukraine, a sharp pivot after months of trying to draw Russia to the negotiating table.
The plan involves European nations buying American weapons that would then be transferred to Kyiv. Washington plans to send defensive systems, including the Patriot interceptors that Ukraine has long wished for.
Trump on Monday also threatened Russia with with “very severe tariffs” if a peace deal wasn’t reached within 50 days.
The moves reflect just how much the US leader has turned against his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in recent weeks: Trump spoke positively of Putin in his first term, and sought a rapprochement with Russia in the initial months of his second. “My conversations with him are very pleasant, and then the missiles go off at night,” Trump said Monday.
