Trump pledges Patriot missiles for Ukraine to defend against Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. is sending Ukraine badly needed Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia’s intensifying aerial attacks.

Trump did not give a number of Patriots he plans to send to Kyiv but said the European Union was “going to pay us 100% for that, and that’s the way we want it.”

Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over possible changes in the Trump administration’s policies on the more than three-year war.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, left, meets with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg Joseph Keith Kellogg.Ukrainian Presidential Press Office / APTrump last week teased that he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbudging stance.

Putin “talks nice and then he bombs everybody,” Trump said late Sunday after saying the U.S. would send missiles to Ukraine and the European Union would pay the cost of the weapons.