US President Donald Trump last night intensified his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and confirmed that he intends to send more weapons to Ukraine to help it in the war against Russia, writes the American newspaper "Washington Post" on one of the central topics in the Western press.
Trump's comments represent a sharp change compared to last week, when White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that the Defense Department had decided to stop some deliveries to Ukraine after an audit found that US military stocks had decreased, the publication notes.
Trump has insisted on a more diplomatic approach to Putin compared to previous US President Joe Biden and has had a more tense relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the American metropolitan newspaper commented.
However, Trump's comments last night were some of his most critical of Putin since he was elected president in 2016 and represent a sharp change in his public stance towards the Russian leader after months of unsuccessful attempts to achieve peace in a conflict that the US president once boasted he could resolve in a day, the newspaper writes. „New York Times“.
Trump's frustration with his Russian counterpart, as well as his more positive relations with Zelensky recently, appear to have led to his decision to resume sending some air defense missiles and precision bombs to Ukraine, the publication points out.
As Trump's frustration with the Russian leader grows, Pentagon officials are increasingly concerned about the potential depletion of American weapons stocks, the "New York Times“ notes at the same time.
Despite the US president's promise to resume arms deliveries, Ukraine will receive only a third of the promised 30 "Patriot“ missiles, the British newspaper "Telegraph“ notes.
Washington is reluctant to part with its own "Patriot“ missiles, after spending 30 of them to repel an Iranian missile attack on a US base in Qatar, but is in talks with the Europeans, who also have US surface-to-air missile batteries in service, the newspaper said.
The US's stockpile of Patriot missiles has dwindled so much that the Pentagon has raised concerns that it could jeopardise potential US military operations, the Guardian newspaper reported.
The US has only about 25% of the Patriot missiles needed for all of the Pentagon's war plans, having exhausted its Middle East stockpile in recent months, the newspaper said. While Trump has publicly complained about the financial side of aid to Ukraine, Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg has been told that the bigger problem is the US's ability to produce weapons quickly enough to replenish its depleted stockpile, the newspaper notes.
The main problem appears to be due to the fact that the US produces 600 Patriot missiles a year, but Iran alone has more than 1,000 ballistic missiles that it could theoretically use against US bases in the region.
According to information from the Ukrainian armed forces, 22 Russian ballistic missiles were intercepted last month, for which, according to the Ukrainian news agency "Euromaidan", up to 50 Patriot missiles were used, the "Guardian" points out.