Now, during his visit to China, Putin will once again try to wriggle out. That is his number one sport. Everyone in the world has declared that the fire must cease. Everyone has insisted that the war must end. That has also been China’s position.

I have discussed this with the Prime Minister of India. Also with other leaders who are now at the summit – Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan. Almost everyone else in the world is also for ending the war. Today there was an important statement from the Pope.

The only one who wants this war is Russia. That is why pressure on Russia must continue. We count on a strong stance from the United States, Europe, the G20 countries. This war brings nothing but destabilization to global processes. Russia must pay for this. And it will.

I also want to thank the partners who this month joined the PURL initiative—our special program that allows us to purchase the necessary weapons for Ukraine’s Defense Forces in the U.S. In August the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, and Latvia joined this initiative. It already exceeds $2B.

Coordination is carried out through NATO. I am grateful to everyone involved, and this is a good result for August. September must also deliver accordingly. Our goal is no less than $1B monthly. These funds are used to purchase very effective weapons—Patriot and HIMARS missiles, and weapons systems needed to defend our cities."- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Source: https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1962234343385915687

A package of U.S. cruise missiles is among the first shipments of purchases by NATO allies to be sent to the embattled country.

By Lara Jakes
Aug. 29, 2025

Europe has begun buying American weapons for Ukraine in earnest, only weeks after President Trump struck a deal with NATO allies to do so.

The latest sale, announced by the State Department on Thursday, will send 3,500 extended-range cruise missiles and GPS navigation kits to Ukraine once Congress formally approves it, as expected. They cost $825 million, paid for by Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, with some unspecified financial assistance from the Pentagon.

The missiles can be fired from fighter jets, and have a similar range to the Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles that Ukraine has used to strike Crimea and into Russia.

The sale marks one of the first purchases by European countries on behalf of Ukraine since Mr. Trump and other NATO leaders reached the deal. It is a policy shift for the United States, which had provided about $67 billion worth of weapons and other military aid directly to Ukraine during the Biden administration.

It will also offer a financial windfall for American weapons producers while shielding Mr. Trump — who has expressed skepticism of devoting U.S. military support to Ukraine — from accusations of direct involvement in the war.

“It’s not a game changer for Ukraine’s Air Force, but it might signal that there’s a productive conversation between Europeans and the Trump administration, in terms of future supply of modern equipment to Ukraine,” said Rafael Loss, a defense and security expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Last month, President Trump said European allies had agreed to buy American-made weapons for Ukraine under a deal clinched with the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte. Previously, the Biden administration had sent new shipments of weapons to Ukraine, from air defenses and tanks to ammunition, every few weeks since the start of the war. That included a period when supplies began to run out in 2023 during a 119-day debate in a Republican-led Congress over whether to continue paying for them.

Some of the military aid committed to Ukraine under the Biden administration was still in the pipeline when Mr. Trump took office. He has paused and restarted the weapons flow several times, and said in July that Ukraine needed additional American military aid — although he did not say how much — to defend itself from a ferocious uptick in Russian attacks.

A week later, he announced the agreement to sell the weapons to European allies, who then would pass them on to Ukraine.

Mr. Trump has sought to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, but his effort has largely stalled since his high-profile meetings this month with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Alaska and, days later, with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and European leaders in Washington.

Steve Witkoff, who serves as Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Russia, met with senior Ukrainian officials in New York on Friday to discuss a way forward.

Russia has continued to pound Ukraine with airstrikes, including a barrage on Thursday that killed at least 23 people in Kyiv, the capital, including four children. The U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss the attacks.

At that meeting, John Kelley, the acting U.S. representative, condemned Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine, saying it “cast doubt on the seriousness of Russia’s desire for peace.” He then said continued aggression from Moscow could be met with economic consequences. Mr. Trump has threatened tougher sanctions but has so far not followed through.

Speaking to reporters on Friday in Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky expressed his desire to intensify discussions about security guarantees that Western partners can provide to postwar Ukraine to deter further Russian aggression. He said the discussions, which have taken place between top government officials and advisers, should be elevated to country leaders. He also said he hoped the legislatures of Ukraine’s allies would ratify any eventual agreed-upon guarantees to make them legally binding.

Earlier this month, the Netherlands pledged to pay for an initial $500 million package of American equipment and munitions that Ukraine said it urgently needed. The next day, Denmark, Norway and Sweden said they would finance another $500 million package of U.S.-made materiel for Ukraine.

It was not clear if the cruise missiles that were announced this week were part of either package. The missiles can be fired from the F-16 fighter jets that Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway are giving to Ukraine. Belgium is also poised to send a first shipment of the fighter jets soon.

A former senior Defense Department official said on Friday that the U.S. weapons would provide Ukraine’s Air Force a new capability and fill a gap in the country’s munitions arsenal. But the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, cautioned that the weapons would not necessarily be game changers.

Germany also recently pledged a big donation to Ukraine: two more Patriot air defense systems that fire missiles to intercept incoming projectiles. As part of the deal with Mr. Trump, Germany will receive priority to buy new Patriots from the United States. The systems cost about $1 billion each and can take years to build.

Ukraine is buying some military aid directly from the United States. The purchases include more than $200 million in equipment and support for howitzer guns and transportation services this month, and about $322 million in parts for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Hawk surface-to-air missile systems in July.

Reporting was contributed by Constant Méheut, Aurelien Breeden, Eric Schmitt and Pranav Baskar.

A correction was made on Aug. 29, 2025: A photo caption with an earlier version of this article misstated the day the attack happened. It was Thursday, not Wednesday.

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