US President Donald Trump railed against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, and suggested he may be considering imposing sanctions on Moscow.
During a cabinet meeting at the White House, he said he was “not happy” with Mr Putin, who is “killing a lot of people”.
“He's very nice all the time but it turns out to be meaningless,” Mr Trump said.
At a White House dinner on Monday, where he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump said the US would resume sending defensive weapons to Ukraine.
“We have to,” he said. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons – defensive weapons primarily.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell later said the Defence Department is sending "additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops".
Russian attacks on Ukraine over Sunday night killed at least 11 people and injured more than 80, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. Mr Trump said "up to" 7,000 people are being killed in the war each week.
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To mark the third year of the Ukraine-Russia war, The National looks back at some of the striking images captured during the conflict. Getty Images -
Ukrainians working at the site of a rocket strike on the 'Okhmadyt' children's hospital in Kyiv in 2024. EPA -
A woman walks past a memorial wall dedicated to fallen defenders of Ukraine in downtown Kyiv in 2024. EPA -
A damaged town sign in Orikhiv, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, in 2024. EPA -
Gravediggers prepare the burial site for victims of a Russian missile strike in Hroza in 2023. Getty Images -
Widow Lubov Doroshenko, 67, returns to her destroyed home in 2023 in Bohorodychne. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade fires a mortar towards Russian positions, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in 2023. EPA -
Emergency workers search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile in Dnipro in 2023. Getty Images -
Ukrainian national flags waving over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in a military cemetery in Kharkiv in 2023. EPA -
A woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting in the Donetsk Region in 2023. Getty Images -
A view taken through the broken glass of a window overlooking the site of a damaged residential building in Dnipro in 2023. EPA -
Numbers mark the graves of unidentified people killed during fighting at the cemetery in Mariupol in 2022. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen shoot from a captured Russian 152, 4mm howitzer Msta-B on a front line near Kupyansk city in 2022. EPA -
A prothesis is adjusted on an Azov Regiment serviceman at a rehabilitation centre in Kyiv in 2022. EPA -
Cars drive past the shell of a rocket in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, in 2022. EPA -
A Ukrainian serviceman rests while travelling with a team of humanitarian volunteers in the Kherson area in 2022. EPA -
A destroyed bridge in Kupiansk in 2022. Getty Images -
A girl arrives at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control in 2022. Getty Images -
The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Andrii Verkhoglyad holds her son's portrait during his funeral ceremony at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv in 2022. EPA -
Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic militia monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, in 2022. EPA -
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a warehouse after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kharkiv in 2022. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier waves the Ukrainian national flag while standing on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Hostomel in 2022. Getty Images -
A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles in Bucha in 2022. Getty Images -
Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting in 2022. Getty Images -
A child on a swing outside a residential building damaged by a missile in Kyiv in 2022. Getty Images
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the US would continue to help Ukraine.
"The President feels obviously very passionate and determined regarding the ability of Ukraine to defend itself, that is the commitment," Ms Bruce told journalists on Tuesday.
"We’ve been helping them, we’ll continue to help them. It’s a pretty tough situation," she said.
The comments came after the Trump administration last week announced that it would pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including critical air defence interceptors and precision munitions due to concerns over declines in US stockpiles.
Critics said the move plays into Mr Putin's hands and could prolong the war, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian missile and drone attacks. Politicians have also challenged that US stockpiles were running low.
“Last week’s decision sent exactly the wrong message. And it came with a tragic human cost, as dozens of Ukrainians were killed or wounded in some of the biggest air strikes of the war,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, while also praising Mr Trump's move to resume sending weapons to Kyiv.
In response to a question about a bill being proposed by the Senate for additional sanctions on Russia, Mr Trump said: “I'm looking at it very strongly.”
Last week, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a co-sponsor of the bill, said Mr Trump had approved his push for the legislation, which calls for a 500 per cent tariff increase on goods imported from countries who continue to buy Russian oil.
Mr Trump took office in January on a promise to swiftly end the war in Ukraine.
He reversed decades of foreign policy by initially seeking rapprochement with Mr Putin, and under his America First approach to foreign policy, he sought to end US military support for Kyiv.
