In reversal, Trump arms Ukraine and threatens sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil
However, Trump's threat of sanctions came with a 50-day grace period, a move was welcomed by investors in Russia where the rouble recovered from earlier losses and stock markets rose.
Sitting with Nata secretary Gen Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and billions of US weapons would go to Ukraine.
"We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to Nato," Trump said, adding Washington's Nato allies would pay for them.
The weapons would include Patriot air defence missiles Ukraine has urgently sought, he said.
"It's a full complement with the batteries," Trump said.
"We're going to have some come very soon, within days. We have one country that has 17 Patriots getting ready to be shipped. We're going to work a deal where the 17 will go or a big portion of the 17 will go to the war site."
Rutte said Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada wanted to be a part of rearming Ukraine.
Trump's threat to impose secondary sanctions on Russia, if carried out, would be a major shift in Western sanctions policy. Lawmakers from the two US political parties are pushing for a bill that would authorise such measures, targeting other countries that buy Russian oil.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Scores of South Africans retrenched by NGO processing Trump's Afrikaner ‘refugees'
The organisation that aims to bring Kenyan workers to South Africa to process Afrikaner 'refugees' bound for the US laid off more than 100 South Africans last year. Church World Service (CWS), the organisation tasked by the US State Department with processing Afrikaner 'refugees' for resettlement in the USA, retrenched about 100 workers in Pretoria in June last year. CWS is now applying for 'volunteer' visas from the Department of Home Affairs for about 30 Kenyan workers to come to South Africa to work on the Afrikaner resettlement project — raising the question of why it is not attempting instead to re-employ the locals it made redundant last year. Daily Maverick understands that the staffers, most of whom were South Africans, were retrenched when CWS closed its Resettlement Support Centre sub-office in Pretoria at the end of June 2024. CWS did not respond to Daily Maverick's repeated requests for comment. Office was in place from 2015 to 2024 'A new office in Pretoria, South Africa, enhances refugee support and programs to cover eight countries,' stated the CWS annual report in 2015. 'Working with the U.S. Department of State, we continue to increase the number of refugee cases in process each year, serving more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.' An old job ad confirmed that the office was based in Pretoria, and stated that it was tasked with 'the preparation of refugee case files for adjudication by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers, as well as the out-processing and cultural orientation of all approved cases'. The office's address was listed elsewhere as occupying premises on Fehrsen Street in Brooklyn, Pretoria. Daily Maverick understands that staff were informed midway through last year that the volumes of refugees being processed from sub-Saharan Africa were no longer high enough to warrant a permanent office presence in South Africa. That was, of course, when President Donald Trump's Afrikaner 'refugee' plan was not yet even a glimmer on the horizon. Tens of thousands of Afrikaners to be brought over Now, CWS finds itself in need of staff numbers to process the Afrikaner 'refugees' to be resettled — and a Reuters exclusive from last week makes it clear why it would need as many as 30 workers for the task. Reuters, through interviews with US officials, has determined that the Trump administration ultimately aims to bring potentially 30,000 Afrikaners for resettlement in the US. As far as is publicly known, only two groups of Afrikaner 'refugees' have thus far left for the US, with numbers probably not totalling more than 100. This means that the scale of the task ahead for CWS is considerable. Reuters also reported that the Trump administration looked set to admit only 40,000 refugees in total for the year ahead — meaning that fully 75% of the available US refugee spots would be reserved for Afrikaners. This news comes at a time when the US State Department has announced a stop to all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza — which had previously been used for emergency purposes to treat injured children — on the grounds that they could be used by Palestinian refugees. Afrikaner 'refugees' facing difficulties As Daily Maverick has reported, the Afrikaner 'refugees' in the first two resettlement groups have not always found the grass on the other side to be as green as they may have hoped. The Reuters exclusive fleshed out the picture, pointing out that after taking office, Trump slashed refugee benefits. Refugees had been eligible for cash and healthcare assistance for one year, but under Trump this has been reduced to four months. Reuters reported on an email sent by one Afrikaner family to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for the refugee programme on US soil. The family said they had found it impossible to secure a job without being issued a social security number, and that they had already spent $4,000 (more than R70,000) on food, transport and communications. Adults expected to take low-level menial jobs US public broadcaster NPR previously had sight of the documents given to the Afrikaner 'refugees' upon arrival. In it, they were told: 'You are expected to support yourself quickly in finding work.' It continued: 'Adults are expected to accept entry level employment in fields like warehousing, manufacturing, and customer service. You can work toward higher level employment over time.' DM
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
Maduro says mobilizing millions of militia after US 'threats'
Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro on Monday said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to US "threats," after Washington raised the bounty for his arrest and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. "This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory -- militias that are prepared, activated and armed," Maduro announced on state television. Official figures say the Venezuelan militia, founded by Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, contains about 5 million people -- though the actual number is believed to be smaller. Venezuela's total population is around 30 million. Maduro lambasted "the renewal of extravagant, bizarre, and outlandish threats" from the United States. The administration of US President Donald Trump earlier this month doubled its bounty to $50 million for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges. Washington, which does not recognize Maduro's past two election victories, accuses the Venezuelan of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration announced sanctions against the group and Maduro's administration last month. The US military has also reportedly deployed several vessels to the southern Caribbean, as part of Trump's crackdown on Latin American drug cartels. "We are also deployed throughout the our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said. Although he did not mention the recent US actions specifically, Maduro thanked those who expressed their support in the face of what he called "rotten refrain" of threats. Maduro called on his government's political base to move forward with the formation of peasant and worker militias "in all industries."
TimesLIVE
8 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Russia bombards Ukrainian city hours after Washington summit
Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk overnight, leaving a thick column of smoke hovering over energy facilities in an attack the mayor called a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace. The bombardment on that city as well as other locations in Ukraine was Russia's largest so far in August, according to the Ukrainian air force. It followed Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Washington on Monday as the US president seeks an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Moscow launched 270 drones and 10 missiles, the Ukrainian air force said. Though it had downed 230 of the drones, 16 sites were struck. 'While hard work to advance peace was under way in Washington DC Moscow continued to do the opposite of peace: more strikes and destruction,' Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. The governor of Poltava region, where Kremenchuk is located, said there were no casualties but nearly 1,500 households were left without electricity. The energy ministry said energy facilities were hit in the attack, resulting in damage and a large fire.
