President Trump speaks in the Blue Room of the White House on Monday. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
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Alex Brandon/AP
KYIV, Ukraine — The Pentagon said on Monday that it will send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine at the request of President Trump, reversing a Pentagon decision a week ago to pause air defense shipments already en route to the Ukrainian military.
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In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the weapons would “ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure that the killing stops.”
Speaking at the White House alongside a U.S. and Israeli delegation, Trump told reporters that Ukrainians must be able to defend themselves against escalating Russian attacks.
“They’re getting hit very hard now,” Trump said, and reiterated his disappointment in Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Smoke rises after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine on July 4. Yehor Konovalov/AP hide caption
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Yehor Konovalov/AP
After Trump’s July 3 phone call with Putin, the Kremlin launched what the Ukrainian military described as the largest airstrikes on Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Ukrainian air force said it recorded more than 539 drones and 11 missiles – a record.
Hanna Shelest, director of security studies at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council, told NPR that it’s clear Russia is not heeding calls by Trump and Ukraine for a ceasefire.
“I don’t see anyone except Russia who is winning,” she said. “Russia is dragging out negotiations so the U.S. won’t introduce new sanctions against them but all signs show that they’re not serious about ending the war.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened sanctions against Russia if it doesn’t agree to end the war. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has introduced a bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil – that would include the two most populous nations in the world, China and India.
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With Russian attacks escalating, Ukraine is dependent on air defense systems and munitions supplied by western allies – including the U.S.-designed Patriot missile system – to protect Ukrainian cities. Ukraine’s defense and foreign ministries said they were caught off guard last week when the Pentagon abruptly decided to pause shipments that included Patriot missiles, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds.
The Pentagon said it halted shipments because of concerns stockpiles were running low – an explanation Shelest finds baffling.
“It would mean quite a negative for the U.S. reputation in the world because of what it says about U.S. capabilities,” she said. “So they’re sending the signal (of) how weak they are.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought up the urgent need for air defense in a July 4 phone call with Trump that Zelenskyy later described as “the best conversation in all this time, extremely productive.”
“We discussed air defense issues, and I am grateful for the willingness to help,” Zelenskyy said during his nightly video address on Saturday.
In this photo, taken on July 2, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, and provided by Ukraine’s 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense press service, an air defense soldier gets ready to fire against Russian targets. Anatolii Lysianskyi/Ukrainian 127th Separate Brigade via AP hide caption
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Anatolii Lysianskyi/Ukrainian 127th Separate Brigade via AP
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine had inked deals with western allies and an American defense company on joint drone production which, he said, could provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of drones as early as this year.
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“This includes interceptor drones, which are clearly our priority,” Zelenskyy said.
Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said in a social media post that Ukrainian military intelligence indicates that Russia could soon launch 1,000 attack drones per day.
“That’s the trajectory,” said Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“As long as Putin believes the war is trending in his direction, and Trump seems uninclined to put any pressure on him, then I think Putin will keep fighting,” he said.
