President Trump said Wednesday the United States may provide Ukraine with additional defensive missiles to intercept Russian air attacks.
The president, speaking at a press conference in the Netherlands where he was attending a NATO summit, said Ukraine is seeking more Patriot missiles as the war with Russia drags on into a fourth year.
“They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, as they call them, the Patriots. And we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Mr. Trump said. “You know, they’re very hard to get.”
Mr. Trump said the U.S. is supplying Patriot missiles to Israel, but that Ukraine wants them “more than any other thing.”
The latest Patriot missiles are considered the best defense equipment for stopping the Russian air assault. Ukraine is incapable of producing such an advanced air defense system and must be supplied with the missiles from the United States or European allies.
The president’s statement came after he held an off-camera meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was at the NATO summit.
Mr. Trump characterized the meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy as “very nice.” The sideline chat followed a diplomatic blow-up earlier this year at the White House, which Mr. Trump called “a little bit of rough times.”
The two men last met in April at the Vatican during the funeral of Pope France.
Mr. Trump has been unable to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine but said after speaking privately with Mr. Zelenskyy that it could still happen.
“What I took from the meeting is they’d like to see it end,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposal. Mr. Trump has grown increasingly exasperated with the stalemate and Russia’s continued barrage of missile attacks on Ukraine.
Russian ballistic missiles and drones this week have killed dozens of people and injured more than 100 others.
Earlier this month, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed more than 30 people.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.