WASHINGTON DC – US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that his administration would send Ukraine additional weapons.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to,” Trump told reporters during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding, “defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.

Ukrainians “have to be able to defend themselves.” Trump added. “So many people are dying in that mess.”

The move comes just days after the Pentagon imposed a pause on some shipments to Kyiv, purportedly due to concerns that US stockpiles are running too low.

The White House officials on Monday appeared to distance Trump from the decision to halt arms transfers during Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities last week, arguing that it had “nothing to do” with the President, calling the move “a routine review of existing weaponry.”

“This is a pause for review to ensure that everything the Pentagon is pushing aligns with the best interests of our military and our men and women in uniform,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing earlier in the day.

She also recalled that upon taking office, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “ordered the Pentagon to conduct this review to ensure that everything going out aligns with America’s interests.”

Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent has learned from diplomatic sources that Trump asked his senior advisers last week about potential options to expedite the delivery of air defense systems to Ukraine.

The move came just after the US President spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, over the phone on Friday morning.

The White House has not commented on the accounts of the phone conversation, but Trump himself called it “strategic” without offering further details.

On Monday, Trump, once again, expressed his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin following a lack of progress in ending the war in Ukraine. The two had spoken on the phone last Thursday.

“I’m disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn’t stopped. I’m not happy about it either,” Trump told reporters.

While Trump’s Monday comments appeared to change posture following Hegseth’s decision last week, the move was welcomed among Ukraine-supporting Republican lawmakers.

“This is the absolute right answer after Putin bombs Ukrainian cities every night,” Congress member Don Bacon said in a social media post. “Putin has to be convinced he cannot win,” he added.

For transatlantic advocates such as Scott Cullinane, co-founder of the US-Europe Alliance, the gap within the Trump administration is striking.

“What happened has surfaced the kind of internal policy divisions which the interagency process is meant to resolve,” he said.

“The Trump Administration and the broader MAGA movement are not unified when it comes to foreign policy, and that push and pull is really on display when it comes to Ukraine,” Cullinane told Kyiv Post.

In the meantime, for security analysts such as Colby Badhwar from Tochnyi, a research group, it remains to be seen what Trump has in mind. But a commitment to expeditiously deliver everything that was previously promised by former President Joe Biden “would be a good start.”

“I would be surprised if he makes new commitments of his own at this time, but the Germans want to order two more Patriot batteries, plus missiles, on behalf of Ukraine,” Badhwar told Kyiv Post. “Approving that arms sale would be very positive,” he added.

“A lasting peace”

Later on Monday,  the Pentagon issued a statement noting that, at Trump’s direction, it was sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to “ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops,” as Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell put it.

“Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities,” Parnell noted.

The US has so far provided Ukraine with over $66 billion worth of weapons and military assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Several senior Trump officials, including cabinet members, have repeatedly urged US allies to supply air defense systems, particularly Patriot missile batteries.

Trump himself, who met Zelensky during the NATO summit last month, acknowledged Ukraine’s request for more Patriots.

“They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, OK, as they call them – the Patriots,” Trump said. “We’re going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective. Hard to believe how effective,” he added.