The US President announces he will supply Ukraine with defensive missiles – if the EU pays for them. The Kremlin appears unconcerned about a new ultimatum. The Financial Times reports on a controversial phone call between Trump and Zelensky.
According to a media report, US President Donald Trump has encouraged Ukraine to launch attacks deep into Russian territory. Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether Moscow could be attacked if the US supplied long-range weapons, the Financial Times reports, citing insiders. According to the report, the US president said the goal of the strategy was to"make them (the Russians, ed.) feel the pain" and thus force them to the negotiating table.
According to the report, the conversation took place on July 4. The day before, the US president had spoken with Putin and later described the exchange as"bad." According to the Financial Times, the White House and the Ukrainian presidential office did not respond to a request for comment.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the US would supply Patriot air defense systems, but that the EU would pay for them. Merz had already declared Germany's willingness to purchase Patriots from the US for Ukraine.
Regarding the Patriot systems, Trump said on Monday that there is a country that has 17 of these systems ready for shipment. A deal is being worked on to send all 17, or a large portion of them, to Poland. Trump did not specify which country.
Trump also set a deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin. If no deal is reached within 50 days in efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine, the US will impose high tariffs on Russia's trading partners. The Republican announced this during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House, where both confirmed arms deliveries to Ukraine. Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, and Denmark are among the buyers supplying Ukraine.
The Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, rejected Trump's threat of sanctions and tariffs as a"theatrical ultimatum" that the leadership in Moscow does not care about.
However, the Kremlin described Trump's statements regarding new arms deliveries as"very serious." "Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. They needed time to review the statements. President Vladimir Putin would comment when he deemed it necessary.
Pistorius: Delivery of two Patriot systems is being prepared
Germany and the US are also jointly preparing to deliver two additional Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, valued at approximately two billion euros. Germany will finance the delivery. However, final technical, logistical, and financial details still need to be clarified, said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) after a meeting with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington. However, they"appear to be solvable for both of us, so we will get to work quickly."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) praised the new arms deliveries."President Trump has taken an important initiative today: The United States will provide Ukraine with weapons on a large scale if its European partners finance this," Merz wrote on the X platform on Monday evening.
Zelensky thanks for US support
Zelenskyy expressed satisfaction with the latest wave of support from the United States for his country. He expressed gratitude to Trump for his willingness to support the protection of the lives of the Ukrainian people, he said in his video message this evening, referring to a previous meeting with US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg.
This war continues only because of Russia and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy said."Russia is trying to make war appear as a new normal, and we must never accept that."
"I am grateful to our team and the United States, Germany, and Norway for preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine," Zelensky said."We are also working on important defense agreements with the United States."
Zelenskyy emphasized that Kyiv would provide the US special envoy with all information about the situation on the front lines and Russia's new offensive preparations."Russia still has the means to do so—the means to destroy the lives of its neighbors." But the world now knows "where to strike so that Putin feels the pain and Russia feels the need to seek peace." Russia's funding for the war must definitely be cut.
dpa/Reuters/ll/lay
