US President Donald Trump said some Patriot missiles are already on their way to Ukraine a day after announcing a that NATO members would send weapons to Ukraine in a change in his stance against sending US weapons to the war-torn country.
"They're coming in from Germany," he told reporters on July 15 without elaborating.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said two Patriot air defense systems are being prepared for delivery to Ukraine. Germany is to pay for their transfer, but the final technical, logistical, and financial details still need to be clarified, Pistorius said on July 14 after meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.
The details "appear to be solvable for both of us, so we will get to work quickly," Pistorius added, saying that Ukraine urgently needs additional air defense systems.
Russian Shahed drones attacked Kharkiv on the evening of July 15, injuring two people local authorities reported. Regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said at least 17 explosions were heard in the city within 20 minutes.
Trump said he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since his July 14 announcement, which included a 50-day deadline on Russia accepting a cease-fire deal to avoid sanctions being imposed on countries that trade with Russia.
Trump did not say whether any talks were planned to try to work out a deal but defended the deadline.
"At the end of the 50 days if we don't have a deal, it's going to be too bad," Trump said. But he also said it might not take 50 days to make a deal.
Trump also was asked about a report in The Financial Times saying that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia. Citing people briefed on discussions, the newspaper said that Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether the Ukrainian military could strike Moscow if the US provided long-range weapons.
"No, he shouldn't target Moscow," Trump told reporters on July 15 when asked if Zelenskyy should order an attack on the Russian capital. The US president also played down the possibility that the United States would send long-range weapons to Kyiv.
European officials are working to ensure Ukraine gets the weapons it needs, while the European Union is working to reach agreement on a new round of sanctions against Russia after Slovakia again held up the latest package.
"I'm really sad that we didn't reach this agreement today," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on July 15. "But I'm still hopeful that we will get the decision tomorrow."
The fresh round of sanctions has been stalled for weeks by a wrangle with Slovakia over separate plans to phase out Russian gas imports.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he needed further guarantees from Brussels on its plans to cut off Russian gas imports from the end of 2027.
Slovakia remains dependent on Russian gas imports and earns money from transit fees for supplies piped across its territory.
