US President Donald Trump has accused Ukraine of offering nothing in return for American support, as tensions between Washington and Kyiv persist over efforts to end the war with Russia.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Monday, Trump said the US had provided substantial assistance to Ukraine without receiving anything in return.
He also intensified his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the latter suggested that Trump’s approach towards the Kremlin placed him on the wrong side of history.
“Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Trump responded, adding that the Ukrainian leader was “not helping matters much” in efforts to end the war.
Meanwhile, US news website Axios reported that Zelensky had accused Washington of withholding weapons deliveries during a virtual meeting with US senators from both parties.
Citing a transcript of the meeting, Axios reported that Zelensky said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was refusing to approve deliveries of Patriot and other air defence missiles, despite NATO countries having already paid for them.
According to Zelensky, the situation suggested that a political decision had been made to slow down military support for Ukraine.
The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the suspension also affected deliveries from other Ukrainian partners that required Washington’s approval.
However, a senior US Defence Department official disputed the reports, telling dpa that there had been no changes to the programme through which NATO countries purchase American weapons for Ukraine.
The official added that intelligence-sharing arrangements had also remained unchanged.
