President Donald Trump made a surprising policy announcement late Monday, declaring the United States will resume sending many “defensive weapons” to Ukraine after Russia’s refusal to engage in ceasefire negotiations and an escalating wave of attacks on civilian targets.
“We have to,” Trump said about supplying Ukraine. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”
The Trump administration had temporarily paused weapons shipments to Ukraine earlier this month, and Trump himself has spent considerable time attempting to broker peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. The president’s efforts to secure a ceasefire have proven unsuccessful, with Russia instead intensifying military operations.
“I’m not happy with President Putin at all,” Trump said.
Trump’s announcement comes after Russian forces launched one of their largest aerial attacks of the war, deploying nearly 500 drones and 60 missiles against Ukrainian targets. The Monday assault alone killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Pentagon had halted shipments of weapons, including Patriot missile interceptors and 155mm artillery shells, last week after an internal assessment found American military stockpiles running dangerously low. According to military officials, the weapons were already staged in Poland when the freeze order came down.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the Defense Department would send additional defensive weapons at Trump’s direction “to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while efforts continue to secure a lasting peace” and explained the reversal.
“Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities,” Parnell said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia has launched approximately 1,270 drones, 39 missiles, and nearly 1,000 glide bombs at Ukraine in the past week alone. “Air defense is the main thing for protecting life,” Zelensky argued in a Telegram post Monday.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump told Zelensky in a Friday phone call that he had not personally ordered the Pentagon’s weapons freeze, which suggested the pause may have been an overall administrative decision rather than a policy shift.
The Kremlin responded cautiously to Trump’s announcement, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Moscow needed time to clarify the specifics of renewed US weapons aid to Ukraine. Peskov noted that Moscow appreciated Trump’s efforts to initiate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and asked to restart Russian-US trade and economic relations.
Trump’s frustration with Putin’s refusal to negotiate marks a shift from his earlier optimism about diplomatic progress. In early June, Trump revealed he had spoken with Putin and described the conversation as “good,” though he admitted it would not “lead to immediate peace.”
The decision to resume weapons shipments also comes amid continued internal Russian turmoil, with Transport Minister Roman Starovoit found dead Monday in what authorities called an apparent suicide.
Russia now controls just under a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, all of Luhansk, and the majority of three other Oblasts. Despite Trump’s diplomatic outreach, Russian forces have continued their slow, bloody advance and escalating attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The war, now in its third year, has become the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.