US President Donald Trump is considering transferring another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoted by BTA, citing its own sources.
As the newspaper notes, this could be the first major arms delivery to Ukraine, the decision for which was made by the current president's administration, and not by his predecessor Joe Biden, Reuters notes.
The White House has requested information from the Pentagon on the possibility of sending additional military aid to Ukraine. In addition, US officials are determining whether other Western countries will also be able to transfer air defense systems to Ukraine.
According to calculations by the "Wall Street Journal", Ukraine has received a total of three "Patriot" systems from the United States, three from Germany and one from several European countries. It is not yet known how many interceptor missiles the United States and its allies will be able to provide to Kiev, as the conflict in Ukraine and military operations in the Middle East have depleted stocks of this type of weapons, the newspaper said.
The US head of state said that South Korea should pay for its own military defense and suggested that his country's ally should pay more for the presence of US troops there, a day after he said he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Seoul, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"This is very unfair. "We supply the militaries of very, very successful countries," Trump told reporters at a White House cabinet meeting. "South Korea makes a lot of money and they're very good. They're very good, but, you know, they have to pay for their own military."
Trump said that during his first term he had gotten South Korea to agree to pay more for the presence of American forces, but his predecessor Joe Biden "canceled" the deal.
"I told South Korea... you know, we're giving you military for free," Trump said, adding that he had told them they had to pay $10 billion each. dollars a year.
"I got three (billion) in one phone call ... but I said we should talk next year," he said, making claims that Reuters could not confirm.
Trump said the presence of US forces was a "huge" economic benefit to the countries that host them.
"It's like having a city, it's a huge amount of money for them, and a huge loss for us ... so we talk, in a very pleasant way. We talk to them."
There are about 28,500 US troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul relies on the US nuclear umbrella to protect against China, Russia and North Korea and is considered a key ally for projecting US military power.
Shortly before last year's US election, South Korea and the Biden administration rushed to sign a new, five-year agreement under which Seoul will increase its contribution to the maintenance of US troops by 8.3% to $1.47 billion in the first year, with subsequent increases linked to the consumer price index, Reuters recalls.