‘He talks nice and then bombs everyone’: Trump on Putin; to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine

US President Donald Trump said that he would send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine. He said it was a necessary step for Kyiv to defend itself from Russia. This comes as Trump grows increasingly disenchanted with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. 

"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. 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," said Trump to reporters. "We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 per cent for that, and that's the way we want it," said Trump. 

While Trump did not give out the exact number of Patriots he would send, he said the US would be reimbursed by the European Union for their cost. Trump also plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off the daily missile and drone attacks from Russia. 

An earlier report stated that Trump was also considering additional sanctions on Russia, as well as 500 per cent tariffs on nations importing Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other exports. Trump’s growing frustration with Russia and Putin comes as he had declared during his election campaign that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war within a day. He has since tried to mediate but has not been fruitful.

Expressing his frustration last week, Trump said, "I'm not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now…We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin ... He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.” 

Zelenskyy too has called on Western allies to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow to push Kremlin towards a ceasefire for a war that has gone on for 40 months.