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.
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.
