Trump on Monday said the United States would ship "billions of dollars' worth" of military equipment to NATO members, paid for by the alliance, to be handed over to Ukrainian forces battling grinding Russian advances. Trump had earlier this month suggested NATO would "100 percent" pay for U.S. weapons, which would be sent to Ukraine.

Trump said the United States would put secondary tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if a peace deal is not reached in 50 days.

Former Ukraine aid critics now back Trump's strategy requiring European funding for weapons to Kyiv after the president pivoted his frustration from Zelenskyy to Putin.

Preparations are underway to quickly transfer additional Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, NATO's top military commander Alexus Grynkewich said on Thursday, as the country suffers some of the heaviest Russian attacks of the war so far.

General Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has said that NATO is preparing for the rapid deployment of additional Patriot air defence systems in Ukraine. Source: ntv, as reported by European Pravda Details: Grynkewich said that preparations were being carried out in close cooperation with Germany.

President Donald Trump has softened his stance on NATO. He once called the Western alliance "obsolete." Now, he says, it's the "opposite of that."