President Donald Trump on Monday announced a deal to send weapons to NATO, which plans to transfer the equipment to Ukraine.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO.”
The president emphasized that United States taxpayers will not be paying for the weapons transfer.
“We are going to be sending them weapons and they’re going to be paying for them. We the United States will not be having any payment made,” Trump said.
“We’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they’re going to be paying for it.”
Trump previously told reporters that the U.S. would be sending patriot air defense missiles to NATO, explaining that the weapons are “desperately” needed in Ukraine to intercept Russian missiles.
“Putin really surprised a lot of people,” the president explained. “He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening. So there’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it.”
Trump also threatened to impose steep tariffs aimed at impacting Russia’s ability to finance the war, amid President Vladimir Putin’s resistance to peace negotiations.
The president said the U.S. would impose 100 percent secondary sanction tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said, adding, “I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there.”
The president stressed that the American people will not be paying for the weapons being sent to Ukraine.
“Just so you know, they’re paying for EVERYTHING. We’re NOT paying anymore,” Trump said, adding: “I said, we have a problem. We make the best stuff, but we can’t keep doing this. And Biden should have done this years ago. He should have done it from the beginning, but he didn’t. He didn’t know we was there.”
Trump’s 2024 campaign promise to end the Ukraine-Russia war quickly has proven to be easier said than done, with Putin’s resistance to a ceasefire agreement frustrating his efforts.