Trump to meet NATO secretary general as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales
President Donald J Trump speaks at a roundtable discussion at the Society Urgency Operations Center in Kerrville Texas Friday July Ricardo B Brazziell Austin American-Statesman via AP AP Ricardo B Brazziell President Donald J Trump speaks at a roundtable discussion at the Locality Exigency Operations Center in Kerrville Texas Friday July Ricardo B Brazziell Austin American-Statesman via AP AP Ricardo B Brazziell BRIDGEWATER N J AP NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is set to meet President Donald Trump this week on the heels of the U S leader announcing plans to sell NATO allies weaponry that they can then pass on to Ukraine Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and plans to hold talks with Trump Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as members of Congress I m gonna have a meeting with the secretary general who s coming in on the morrow Trump informed reporters as he arrived in Washington on Sunday night But we basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated weapons and they re gonna pay us for them A top ally of Trump Republican Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina noted Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back Russia It s a cause that Trump who during his campaign made rapidly ending the war a top priority had previously dismissed as being a waste of U S taxpayer money In the coming days you ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves Graham declared on CBS Face the Nation He added One of the biggest miscalculations Russian President Vladimir Putin has made is to play Trump And you just watch in the coming days and weeks there s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table The Rutte visit comes after Trump last week teased that he would make a major comment on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces Trump on Sunday declined to offer further details on his coming announcement We re going to see what we will see the day after he explained Graham and Democratic Sen Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut who also appeared on CBS noted there is also growing consensus on Capitol Hill and among European agents about tapping a few of the billion in Russian assets frozen by Group of Seven countries early in the war to help Ukraine It s time to do it Blumenthal explained Rubio commented Friday that particular of the U S -made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe Those weapons could be more briskly transferred to Ukraine with European countries buying replacements from the U S he stated French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu in an interview published Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche disclosed European functionaries have been making the episode to the Trump administration to bolster air defense capabilities with any coming packages He added that France is in a quota hole and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine new ground-air missiles Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats as well as European allies to help measure in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia s oil industry and hit Moscow with U S sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine The statute in part calls for a tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil gas uranium and other exports It would have an enormous impact on the economies of Brazil China and India which account for the vast majority of Russia s strength deal The big offender here is China India and Brazil Graham explained My goal is to end this war And the only way you are going to end this war is to get people who prop up Putin make them choose between the American commercial sector and helping Putin That revenue is critical in helping keep the Russian war machine humming as the U S and Europe have imposed considerable import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia affecting sectors like finance strength shipping tool and defense Trump for months had threatened but held off on imposing new sanctions against Russia s oil industry But the Republican leader has become increasingly exasperated with Putin in fresh days and has repeatedly laid into the Russian leader for prolonging the war He talks so beautifully and then he ll bomb people at night Trump revealed in his latest broadside against Putin We don t like that Congress has been prepared to act on the law sponsored by Graham and Blumenthal for specific time The bill has overwhelming aid in the Senate but Republican leadership has been waiting for Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it The White House had expressed specific reservations about the measure Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions tariffs or other penalties without having to cede control to Congress Under the initial bill the president may terminate the penalties under certain circumstances but straightaway reimpose them if the violations resume Graham has mentioned the president would be allowed to waive the sanctions for days and could also renew a waiver Specific Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the waivers But Blumenthal downplayed the differences and noted the decree would give Trump a sledgehammer to utilize on Putin The waiver language we will have in this bill is very much like the provisions have existed in past similar measures Blumenthal disclosed He added What I think is the majority critical right now is our unity Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed reporting Source
