WASHINGTON - The United States is selling weapons to its NATO allies in Europe to enable them to supply Ukraine,...
which is currently struggling to defend itself against a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons—100 percent,” President Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Thursday evening. “So what we’re doing is, the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is giving those weapons to Ukraine. NATO is paying for those weapons.”
Secretary of State Rubio elaborated, noting that many of the U.S.-made weapons Ukraine urgently needs are already deployed with NATO forces in Europe. He explained that these weapons could be transferred to Ukraine more rapidly, with European nations subsequent-ly purchasing replacements from the United States.
“It’s a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to or-der it from a U.S. factory and get it there,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Kuala Lum-pur, Malaysia.
Among Ukraine’s top priorities is the acquisition of additional U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to counter Russian ballistic and cruise missile attacks. The Trump administra-tion’s position on military aid to Ukraine has fluctuated over the past three years since Rus-sia’s full-scale invasion began. After a brief pause in certain shipments, Trump has now pledged to continue sending defensive weapons to Ukraine. U.S. officials confirmed that new deliveries are already en route. (Jamaica Gleaner)