Trump to meet Rutte as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sale
Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and members of Congress.
'I'm gonna have a meeting with the secretary general who's coming in tomorrow,' Trump told reporters in Washington on Sunday night. 'But we basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated (weapons) and they're gonna pay us 100% for them.'
The Rutte visit comes after Trump last week teased that he would make a 'major statement' on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive air assaults launched by Russian forces.
Trump on Sunday declined to give further details on the announcement, saying: 'We're going to see what we will see tomorrow.'
A close Trump ally, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said on Sunday that the war in Ukraine is approaching a critical turning point as Trump signals renewed interest in helping Kyiv's repel Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion.
"In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,' Graham said, 'One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.'
Rubio said on Friday that some of the US-made weapons Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be more quickly transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, according to him.
Trump is also facing calls from both sides of the US political spectrum as well as allies in Europe to support legislation which would aim to cripple Russia's oil industry and hit Moscow with more US sanctions.
The legislation would partially call for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would massively impact the economies of Brazil, China and India, which account for most of Russia's energy trade.
That revenue is critical to keeping Putin's war machine humming as the US and Europe have imposed significant import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia.
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