JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump made two important announcements today on the Russia-Ukraine war. First, he outlined a new way for U.S. weapons to reach Ukraine. Second, he threatened harsh measures against Russia if it does not make a deal to stop the fighting. NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre has been covering this and joins us now. Hi there.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Greg, can you just start by taking a big step back and taking a look at President Trump's larger message with me? He now wants to arm Ukraine. And he keeps criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin. How did we get here?
MYRE: Yeah, I mean, we're now seeing Trump take very different positions than the ones he's held dating back to the beginning of his first term. Over the years, he consistently sounded more sympathetic toward Russia and Putin than Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But in recent weeks, Trump has turned sharply against Putin, mostly or entirely because the Russian leader refuses to accept Trump's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Today, Trump described Putin as someone who strikes a positive, friendly tone in their phone calls and then turns around and does exactly the opposite.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done. And I always hang up and say, well, that was a nice phone call. And then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city. And I said, strange. And after that happens three or four times, you say the talk doesn't mean anything.
MYRE: Trump's critical comments today carried even more weight because he made them in the Oval Office sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and announcing a new plan to arm Ukraine.
SUMMERS: Now, Greg, Trump has long been a critic of additional U.S. weapons for Ukraine. So how would this work?
MYRE: Trump says U.S. will sell American weapons to NATO countries, and they'll provide those arms to Ukraine. Trump says this includes 17 Patriot air defense systems - far more than Ukraine has now - and they're absolutely critical for Ukraine in defending against Russian missile strikes. The president didn't give a lot of details, but a NATO official speaking on condition of anonymity to our NPR colleague Tom Bowman says some weapons that were in Poland are already moving across the border to Ukraine.
Now, if all this plays out as presented today, it would address several critical issues simultaneously. Trump has balked at the cost of arming Ukraine. Now he says it won't cost the U.S. anything. NATO countries will pay. European nations can demonstrate that they're doing more to handle security on their continent. Trump cited the recent NATO conference as a real breakthrough. He's now praising European states for their defense commitments - another big change.
SUMMERS: Right, and what might this mean for Ukraine on the battlefield?
MYRE: Well, it addresses Ukraine's most pressing military problem - a shortage of weapons in general and air defenses in particular. The last big U.S. weapons package was approved more than a year ago under President Biden, and that package is running out. Russia is exploiting this by massively stepping up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, hoping to exhaust Ukraine's defenses. Ukraine really didn't have any great options. But if the arrangement works out as outlined by Trump, it's a win that everybody could claim - Trump, the European nations and Ukraine.
SUMMERS: If anything, Greg, what have you been hearing from Ukraine?
MYRE: Well, we are hearing some initial positive responses with some caution. Here's Oleksandr Merezhko. He's a member of Ukraine's parliament who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO: Well, hopefully, it might mean the change of the mood and stance of President Trump. But at the same time, we are very careful about this, taking into consideration the previous experience of not consistency on his part.
SUMMERS: Now we also heard President Trump warn that Russia could face harsh measures. Tell us what they are.
MYRE: Yeah, the president says he'll impose stiff tariffs if Russia doesn't agree to a deal on the war in the next 50 days. Trump appears to be referring to that ceasefire proposal that's been on the table for months at this point. Now, the tariffs appear to be mostly a threat right now. A Senate bill would impose sanctions of up to 500% on countries that buy Russian oil, like China, India, Brazil. Now, those countries would be hit very hard, but it's actually pretty difficult for the U.S. to punish Russia directly because Moscow is already heavily sanctioned by the West and does very little business with the U.S.
SUMMERS: That's NPR's Greg Myre, Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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