After Putin snubbed efforts for a diplomatic solution, President Donald Trump announced the US would resume sending defensive weaponry to Ukraine.
Current American supplies consist mostly of things like missile interceptors and other technology to help the country defend itself.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Mr. Trump said during a White House cabinet meeting. “He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Relations between the US and Ukraine had soured early in Trump’s Presidency when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a heated exchange in February prompting many to accuse Zelensky of sabotaging peace efforts.
Then in May of this year, President Trump negotiated a minerals deal opening additional trade between the US and Ukraine and forging a “long-term strategic alignment” between the two countries.
Now, Trump says, it is Putin who is the primary roadblock to peace. (RELATED: Youngkin Leads Trade Mission to France, UK for Jobs Push)
US diplomatic relations with Ukraine have been complex since before the war with Russia began. Then Vice-President Biden admitted to leveraging Ukrainian aid to help his son Hunter’s business interests and President Trump was impeached by Democrats for demanding answers concerning the case.
Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism regarding continued US aid for the war, but has also made negotiating international peace settlements a priority for his administration. One insider said the President is increasingly frustrated with Russia’s aggression and is troubled by the images he has seen from the battle lines in Ukraine.
Trump has expressed an increasing interest in a “punishing sanctions bill” designed to “bring Russia to heel.”
Russia has amped up hostilities despite US efforts to broker a peace deal. (RELATED: Peacemaker Trump Brokers Central African Truce, Nominated For Peace Prize)
The announcement comes in the middle of a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during which Trump has prioritized negotiating a ceasefire to the conflict in Israel.
Democrats who criticized the pause in weapons shipments are now critical of Trump’s resuming aid to the war-torn country.