Donald Trump said he is considering sending more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, as he renewed calls on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war.
The president added that he isn鈥檛 ruling out a new defense assistance package, when he spoke to reporters at the Nato summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Trump, who has surrounded himself with isolationist-minded advisers who鈥檝e publicly opposed continued support for Kyiv, responded, 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens鈥 when asked whether the U.S. would contribute anything on top of the $8 billion pledged by NATO allies as part of the 32-member bloc鈥檚 continued support for Ukraine鈥檚 war effort.
Speaking at a press conference on the heels of a closed-door sit-down with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr. Trump said there has been 鈥渁 lot of spirit鈥 in Ukraine鈥檚 fight against the invasion Putin ordered in February 2022.
Trump also appeared to shift blame for the continuation and escalation of the war to Putin, marking a dramatic reversal from how he characterized the situation during a contentious Oval Office meeting with Zelensky earlier this year.
鈥淰ladimir Putin really has to end that war,鈥 the president said. 鈥淧eople are dying at levels that people haven鈥檛 seen before for a long time.鈥
He recounted to reporters how he鈥檇 rebuked Putin during a recent phone call after the Russian leader offered to mediate an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran, stressing he would rather he brought an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
He later added that Putin has been 鈥渕ore difficult鈥 than Zelensky, with whom Trump has had a contentious relationship dating back to his first term, when a phone call with the Ukrainian leader launched a scandal that led to the first of his two impeachment trials in the Senate.
Trump鈥檚 relationship with Putin has long been far friendlier, but even that has appeared to sour in recent months as the Russian dictator has continued to pound civilian targets in Ukraine with drones and missiles, killing thousands and complicating efforts by Trump to cajole both sides to the negotiating table.
In April, he became so irate over Putin鈥檚 attacks on civilians that he took to Truth Social to exhort the Russian leader to halt the attacks and get to the negotiating table, writing: 鈥淰ladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let鈥檚 get the Peace Deal DONE!鈥
Since then, he has floated the possibility of imposing harsh new sanctions on Moscow if Putin refuses to cooperate in the U.S.-led efforts to bring about a settlement in the three-year-old conflict.
The president鈥檚 changed view of the war and Putin鈥檚 culpability also became evident when he had an emotional exchange with a reporter for the BBC鈥檚 Ukrainian service, who asked whether the U.S. was prepared to sell more Patriot anti-air missiles to Ukraine.
Last year, the Biden administration announced they would prioritize deliveries of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine on account of Russia鈥檚 accelerated pace of aerial attacks against civilians and infrastructure, but Kyiv has had to expand their use of the missiles and has been running low on them.
Trump asked the reporter if she was currently living in Ukraine, at which point she replied that she was based in Warsaw with her children while her husband has remained in Ukraine.
The president responded: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 rough stuff.鈥 He asked the journalist again to confirm that she was living outside of Ukraine and working as a reporter, replying 鈥済ood鈥 when she answered in the affirmative.
鈥淟et me just tell you, they [Ukraine] do want to have the anti-missile missiles, as they call them, the Patriots, and we鈥檙e going to see if we can make some available,鈥 he said.
Trump added that such weapons were 鈥渧ery hard to get鈥 and 鈥渧ery effective鈥, while admitting that the U.S. had been prioritizing supplies for Israel amid that country鈥檚 ongoing wars.
鈥淭hey do want that more than any other thing, as you probably know,鈥 he said before praising her 鈥渧ery good question鈥 and telling her to 鈥渟ay hello鈥 to her husband for him.
Trump鈥檚 apparent openness to sending more American aid to Ukraine comes as NATO鈥檚 32 member nations pledged to 鈥渞eaffirm鈥 what they described as 鈥渆nduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine,鈥 calling Ukrainian security efforts a contribution to NATO鈥檚 own security.
The alliance also pledged to include 鈥渄irect contributions to Ukraine defense鈥 as part of efforts to have each country meet a threshold of spending five percent of gross domestic product on defense.