US President Donald Trump speaks at the National Memorial Day Observance in Arlington, Virginia, 26 May 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

US President Donald Trump pledged on Monday that the US would send Ukraine more weapons, just days after his administration suspended the supply of Patriot missiles and other critical ammunition to Kyiv.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to, they have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons. Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess,” Trump added.

Shortly after Trump’s remarks, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed in a statement that the US Department of Defence would send “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”.

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to end the war as Russia continues its drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Following a call with the Russian leader on Thursday, the US president said he was “very disappointed” as he was unable to make “any progress” on persuading Putin to end Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

On Monday, Trump reiterated that sentiment, saying he was “not happy with President Putin at all” and “disappointed” that Putin “hasn’t stopped”.

Earlier that day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed after a fresh round of Russian attacks that left at least three people dead that Kyiv was “strongly counting” on its allies, including the US, to “fully deliver on what we have agreed”.

In a call with Zelensky on Friday, Trump acknowledged Kyiv’s ongoing need for Patriot defence missiles and hinted that Washington would resume deliveries.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump told Zelensky during that call that he was not personally responsible for the pause in arms shipments to Ukraine, saying that he had directed a review of the Pentagon’s weapons stockpiles following the country’s airstrikes on Iran last month but “hadn’t ordered the department to freeze the arms deliveries” to Kyiv.