US President Donald Trump has said he will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, adding they are necessary to defend the country.
Mr Trump did not give a number of Patriot missiles 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin because Mr Putin has resisted Mr Trump’s attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had 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,” Mr Trump said.
“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,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington.
The US president said his country will “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,” he added.
He plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine and other issues this week.
