Trump announces weapons for Ukraine and threatens Russia with tariffs

President Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

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Evan Vucci/AP

MOSCOW — President Trump on Monday threatened to punish Russia with heavy tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow if the Kremlin fails to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, while promising Kyiv "billions of dollars" worth of military equipment.

"We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," Trump said during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. "I use trade for a lot of things," Trump said. "But it's great for settling wars."

It was his latest warning against Russian President Vladimir Putin as the U.S. president becomes increasingly frustrated with the Kremlin leader over his continued war in Ukraine.

President Trump explained that NATO countries would acquire U.S.-made weapons, including Patriot air defense missile systems, and that those countries would provide them to Ukraine.

Speaking Sunday to reporters ahead of the meeting with Rutte, Trump cast the weapons decision as a direct rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need because Putin really surprised a lot of people," Trump said. "He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening."

Republican Senate allies have sought to reconfigure a draft bill that would give Trump a sanctions on/off switch to use as snap leverage with Moscow.

Collectively, the moves cap a stark turnaround in Trump's approach toward President Putin over the Ukraine issue — from initially promising he could leverage his personal relations with Putin to negotiate a peace agreement to now openly criticizing the Kremlin leader as unserious in negotiations to end the war.

The announcement coincided with a visit by White House envoy Keith Kellogg to Kyiv that included a sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy appeared upbeat in a video released to social media, calling his talks with Kellogg a "productive conversation" and praising Trump for "important signals of support" for Ukraine.

"We discussed the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer. This includes strengthening Ukraine's air defense, joint production, and procurement of defense weapons in collaboration with Europe," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

"We hope for U.S. leadership, as it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its unreasonable ambitions are curbed through strength."

Back in Moscow, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was waiting to hear full details of Trump's announcement — but framed the decision to provide arms through NATO as merely U.S. policy rebranded.

"The fact remains that the supply of weapons, ammunition and military equipment from the United States continued and continues to Ukraine," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman has similarly played down recent profane statements by Trump suggesting Putin was unserious about negotiations.

The American leader often engages in "tough talk," Peskov noted, adding Russia still hoped to repair bilateral relations.

Political observers in Moscow suggested the Kremlin's muted response reflected an acknowledgment it was dealing with a mercurial American president.

Trump's frustrations with Russia today might be directed at Ukraine tomorrow.

"Why should they ruin relations completely?" Sergey Poletaev, of the Moscow-based Vatfor analytical platform, said in an interview with NPR.

"In another six months or so, the pendulum could swing back the other way."