US President Donald Trump on Monday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of not wanting to reach a peace deal in Ukraine and accused the Russian leader of throwing “bullshit” at Washington.
Trump said he has struck a deal with NATO to purchase the weapons that will be delivered to Ukraine, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington.
“We made a deal today where we will be sending weapons to (Ukraine) and NATO will be paying for it,” Trump announced at a press conference at the White House.
The US is ready to implement 100% tariffs on Russia in response to President Putin’s lack of interest in ending his war in Ukraine, which could start in 50 days, Trump said.
“We’re very unhappy with Russia and we’ll be doing very severe tariffs … at about 100%,” the US leader said.
“We’ve spent $250 billion on this war … and we want to see it end. I am disappointed in Putin because I thought we’d have a deal two months ago,” he added.
“I am very disappointed with President Putin,” Trump said.
“I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. And he’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”
In an about-turn last week, Trump said that Washington would send sophisticated weapons, including Patriot air defense systems, to Ukraine via NATO.
The Patriot missile system can detect and intercept a wide range of oncoming air targets, high-end ballistic missiles in particular, and is regarded as one of the world’s best. The announcement comes at a time when Moscow is increasing missile and drone attacks in its all-out war against Ukraine which began in 2022.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Germany would pay for two of the systems, while Norway has agreed to supply one.
Other European partners have also said they are prepared to help, the Ukrainian president said.
