Ukrainians welcomed US President Donald Trump’s pledge of more US-made weapons in their fight against Russia’s invasion, even though it is unclear what exactly they will get and how quickly.
The time frame for further arms deliveries that European countries have agreed to pay for is crucial.
Russia is making a summer push to break through along the 1,000-kilometre front line, and its drones and missiles are hammering Ukrainian cities more than at any time in the past three years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump for his “willingness to support Ukraine”.
In Kyiv, resident Nina Tokar, 70, said that with more US weapons going to Ukraine, “maybe this will all end faster”.
However, following Mr Trump’s threat late last week to impose major sanctions on Russia for failing to reach a deal to end the fighting, the American president said that Moscow would get 50 days to come to a settlement or face “very severe” economic sanctions.
While some believe strict tariffs on Moscow could be a game changer, the postponement until September struck others as being too long.
For Russia, Mr Trump’s delay of new sanctions is a reprieve.
Senior Russian politician Konstantin Kosachev said: “Oh, how much can change both on the battlefield and with the mood of those leading the US and Nato in 50 days.”
Russian state television pointed out that Mr Trump’s decision would bring a bigger financial burden for Europe.
Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s depleted army has recently been losing more territory, but there is no sign of a looming collapse on the front line, analysts say.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke to Mr Trump after the Republican leader’s Oval Office announcement on Monday, expressing gratitude for the decision to send more Patriot air defence missiles that are vital to defend Ukrainian cities.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Telegram: “We discussed … the necessary measures and decisions to provide greater protection for people from Russian attacks and strengthen our positions.
“We agreed to talk more often and co-ordinate our steps in the future.”
Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have had a notoriously fraught relationship, and Washington’s consent to providing more weaponry has eased Kyiv’s worries.
Even so, some Ukrainians felt the US decision won’t alter the course of the war.
“If we take the situation as a whole, it hardly looks like this will fundamentally change anything,” Kyiv resident Oles Oliinyk, 33, told .
Nina Tokar, 70, was also sceptical. “I have very little faith in (Mr Trump). He says one thing today, and tomorrow he may say something else.”
A Ukrainian army officer fighting in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region said the 50-day delay on sanctions “is a very long time”.
“They (the Russians) will say, ‘Give us two more weeks,’ and then in two weeks, ‘Give us another week.’ It will drag on until October or November,” he told AP, using only the call sign “Cat” in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp agreed. “I do believe that the 50 days that Mr Trump has announced is rather long. It’s up to September 2. I think that’s rather long.”
Much remains to be worked out about how the weapons, especially the Patriot systems, will be provided, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Brussels on Tuesday.
But, in an indication that Europe is relieved that the US hasn’t walked away from the conflict, he added: “The most important thing is that we now have an American readiness to deliver these most needed weapons.”
Some European countries, such as Hungary and Slovakia, still rely heavily on Russia for energy supplies and could be hit hard by Mr Trump’s threatened secondary sanctions on countries that buy its oil and gas — an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said Mr Trump’s 50-day delay was a “signal for Europe to prepare ourselves, because we still have some member states that are exposed to imports of oil and oil products from Russia.”
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said it remains to be seen whether Mr Trump’s announcement will be a turnaround but “what is decisive is that the tone has changed”.
The president’s threat to impose sanctions after 50 days is “significant progress,” Mr Pistorius told television.
