Sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was disappointed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and "very unhappy" with Russia, adding that he wanted the war in Ukraine to end.
"We're going to make top-notch weapons and they're going to be sent to NATO," Trump said, adding that Washington's NATO allies would pay for the weapons.
Rutte confirmed Trump's statement and described it as "completely logical". The value of weapons is measured in billions of dollars.
The weapons would include Patriot anti-aircraft missiles that Ukraine urgently needs to defend its cities from Russian air strikes.
Trump also said that Russian trade partners will face tariffs if a peace agreement with Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
"We will be putting very tough tariffs on if we don't make a deal in 50 days," Trump said. "I use trade for a lot of things. But it's great for solving wars."
Since Trump mentioned "100 percent tariffs", a White House official clarified that this refers to 100 percent tariffs on Russian exports, but also to secondary sanctions, which target third countries that buy goods exported by Russia.
Such secondary sanctions are generally considered more likely to have a far more serious impact on the Russian economy than the measures previously imposed, which allowed Russia to continue selling oil to buyers like China and India, earning hundreds of billions of dollars.
Photo: EPA/YURI GRIPAS / POOL
