US President Donald Trump has finally found a way to like arming Ukraine: ask European allies to donate their weapons, and sell them American replacements, Reuters reports.
Now comes the hard part — agreeing on who will actually give up their prized systems, including the Patriot missile batteries that Kyiv has been desperately seeking.
"We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO," Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.
The costly Patriot systems - in high demand among U.S. allies - have proven effective at destroying Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Ukraine's cities.
The U.S. has also signaled willingness under the proposed arrangement with European allies to send additional offensive weapons, said one source familiar with the matter, though Trump has said that Ukraine should refrain from attacking Moscow.
The plan, which Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte hatched in recent days, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, has been received positively by Ukraine and its allies.
But since the announcement, it has become clear Trump presented a framework - not a fleshed-out plan. How material any support ends up being for Ukraine will depend on coming negotiations about who provides which equipment, according to 10 officials in the U.S. and Europe.
"As always with these things, the devil is in the details," said one northern European ambassador in Washington.
The central question is who would donate the Patriot batteries, and when.
