The Washington Post
Trump backs Kyiv in war with Russia through weapons and threats to Moscow
In a major shift toward Ukraine, Trump announces a plan to send weapons, including Patriot systems, and threatens 100 percent tariffs if Russia doesn’t reach a deal soon.
Updated
July 14, 2025 at 6:51 p.m. EDTtoday at 6:51 p.m. EDT
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump on Monday as Trump announces a deal to send U.S. weapons to Ukraine through NATO. (Kent Nishimura/For The Washington Post)
By Michael Birnbaum and Emily Davies
Weighing in on Kyiv’s side of its war with Russia more forcefully than at any time since he reclaimed the White House, President Donald Trump said Monday that he would help Ukraine obtain advanced U.S.-made weaponry and threatened tariffs against Moscow and its trading partners if the war is still raging in 50 days.
The announcements came after Trump repeatedly expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued bombardment of Ukraine.
Until Monday, Trump had largely held back from opening the U.S. arsenal for Ukraine, avoiding putting his fingerprint on a conflict that he often said was “Biden’s war.”
Although he said again Monday that “this is not Trump’s war,” the plans he unveiled amounted to a significant U.S. effort to bolster Ukraine’s military and impose tough economic consequences on Russia if Putin doesn’t soon halt the conflict. The efforts would build on — and go beyond — those by President Joe Biden and would effectively back Ukraine in the war.
The plan, however, would shift how the United States helps Ukraine. Under Biden, Washington mostly donated weaponry to Kyiv directly. Trump will require Europeans to pay for it.
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The new weapons will include Patriot air defense systems, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long sought, saying they are key to protecting cities and other major targets.
The U.S. plan envisions European countries sending weaponry, including the Patriots, to Ukraine out of their current stocks so the weapons could be used immediately, Trump said. Germany and Norway will each send at least one battery, officials said.
Those countries would then purchase replacements from the U.S. defense industry.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, visiting the White House on Monday, told reporters that the deal also involved “missiles and ammunition,” without specifying what else would be purchased and supplied. Ukraine’s U.S. and European backers have rushed to bolster their production capacity of air defense interceptors and 155mm artillery shells.
“There’s a very big deal we’ve made. This is billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment [which] is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, etcetera, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office, speaking alongside Rutte, who will help oversee a NATO-wide purchasing effort of U.S.-made weaponry for Ukraine.
In his remarks, Trump offered far more sympathy toward Ukrainians than he has at other moments of his presidency, noting that most Ukrainian civilians have remained in their home cities, even as apartment blocks have come under Russian missile attack.
“It’s incredible. They remain even knowing a missile could hit their apartment and bring it down on them,” Trump said.
“Say what you want about Ukraine. When the war started, they had no chance,” he added. “They fought with tremendous courage, and they continue to fight with tremendous courage.”
And he had harsh words for Putin, saying at one point, “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”
The decision to sell arms came just weeks after the Pentagon briefly paused military aid for Ukraine, one of several policy swerves in the administration’s approach to the conflict since Trump came into office in January vowing to end the war in a day.
The new stance was met with relief in Kyiv, which has been buffeted by the back-and-forth from Washington in recent weeks as Russia has increased deadly aerial attacks.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, visited Ukraine on Monday for meetings with top leaders, giving a bear hug to Zelensky’s chief of staff upon arriving in the capital’s central train station.
Later in the day, Zelensky said he had spoken to Trump by telephone.
“Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace,” Zelensky posted on X.
“Thank you, Mr. President! Thank you, America!” he wrote.
Zelensky has long sought more Patriot systems for Ukraine’s defense. The Biden administration sent several, but ultimately stopped after the Pentagon said offering more would lower U.S. military readiness beyond acceptable levels.
Germany will send Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine as it purchases replacements from the United States, a senior White House official said after the meeting, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about internal discussions. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is in Washington and met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday. Zelensky said over the weekend that Norway will also send a battery.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew G. Whitaker will work out some of the details with allies in Brussels, Trump said.
Rutte said Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada also intend to take part in the first wave of weapons purchases, with more countries to come soon.
“It will mean that Ukraine can get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment, both for air defense, but also missiles, ammunition,” Rutte said.
Trump’s shift drew praise in Europe, where German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on X that “President Trump today took an important initiative: The United States will provide Ukraine with weapons on a large scale if its European partners finance it.”
In addition to weapons, Trump vowed to levy “secondary tariffs” of 100 percent against Russia if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days.
The White House official said the plan is expected to be a 100 percent tax on the import of Russian goods, along with secondary 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and other energy products.
Congress has been working on legislation that would enable Trump to impose steep sanctions against buyers of Russian energy.
Trump expressed frustration about his repeated phone calls with his Russian counterpart.
“I speak to [Putin] a lot about getting this thing done,” Trump said, “and I always hang up and say, ‘Well, that was a nice phone call.’ And then missiles launched into Kyiv or some other city. After that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn’t mean anything.”
Last week, Russia launched more than 1,800 drones, 1,200 glide bombs and 83 missiles at Ukraine, Zelensky said Sunday.
Trump said he had spoken to his wife, Melania, about the contrast, offering a rare window into the way the first lady may have influenced his thinking on a foreign policy question.
One night, he said, “I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘And I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really, another city was just hit. …’ At a certain point, you know, ultimately, talk doesn’t talk. It’s got to be action. It’s got to be results.”
Russian officials suggested the shift was unlikely to change their calculus.
“In 50 days a lot can change on the battlefield, and in the mood of those in power in the U.S. and NATO,” said Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament.
Trump’s move drew praise from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), a co-author with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) of the legislation to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian energy.
“He’s seemingly taking off his rose-colored glasses when it comes to Vladimir Putin,” Blumenthal said. “I give Trump credit for seeing through Putin’s mocking and stalling tactics.”
He and Graham are “very close” to being ready to bring the legislation to a vote in the Senate, but are still working out some details, he said.
Senate Republicans are coordinating with Trump on when to take up the bill, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota). The bill has the backing of 85 senators as well as the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).
“If at some point the president concludes that it makes sense and adds value and leverage that he needs in those negotiations to move the bill, we’ll do it,” Thune told reporters Monday. “We’ll be ready to go.”
In another sign of the shifting political landscape, Zelensky said Monday that he had offered the prime ministership to Yulia Svyrydenko, the country’s deputy prime minister and economy minister. She would replace Denys Shmyhal as head of government.
Svyrydenko is well known to the Trump administration, having been one of Kyiv’s main negotiators in difficult talks that led to a deal granting U.S. companies access to joint development of Ukraine’s mineral resources.
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Lizzie Johnson and Anastacia Galouchka in Kyiv, Theodoric Meyer and Liz Goodwin in Washington, Ellen Francis in Brussels and Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report.
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The comments reflect a strong skepticism and criticism of President Trump's decision to send advanced weaponry to Ukraine, funded by European countries. Many commenters express distrust in Trump's motives, suggesting that his actions are more about financial gain and maintaining... Show more
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