Trump downplays possibility of sending Ukraine long-range weapons as it
struggles to repel Russia
[July 16, 2025]
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, AAMER MADHANI and STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed the
possibility of sending Ukraine long-range weapons as Kyiv awaits an
injection of U.S. weaponry that it hopes will help it beat back an
intensifying Russian air offensive.
Trump offered a more cautious tone on what to expect after he threatened
Russia a day earlier with steep tariffs if President Vladimir Putin
doesn’t act within 50 days to end the three-year conflict. He also on
Monday announced plans to bolster Kyiv's stockpile by selling American
weapons to NATO allies who would in turn send arms to Ukraine.
Providing Ukraine with more long-range weaponry would give Kyiv the
chance to strike further into Russian territory, a move that some in
Ukraine and the U.S. have said could help push Putin toward negotiations
to end the fighting.
Asked if he intended to supply Ukraine with weapons that could reach
deeper into Russian territory, Trump replied, “We're not looking to do
that.” He made the remarks to reporters before departing the White House
for an energy investment event in Pittsburgh.
While Trump's threats of weapons, sanctions and tariffs mark the most
substantive pressure he’s placed on Putin since returning to office
nearly six months ago, some lawmakers said they remain concerned that
the administration, with the 50-day deadline, is giving Putin time to
grab even more Ukrainian territory.
Sens. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, and Jeanne Shaheen,
a Democrat from New Hampshire, said waiting 50 days before imposing
sanctions on Russia would give Putin more time to gain an advantage in
the war.
“The 50-day delay worries me that Putin would try to use the 50 days to
win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement
after having murdered and potentially collected more ground,” said
Tillis, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection.
Tillis and Shaheen lead the Senate NATO Observer Group, which
facilitates work between Congress and NATO, and met Tuesday with NATO
Secretary General Mark Rutte on Capitol Hill.
Trump himself scoffed at the idea that 50 days is giving Putin too much
time. The president suggested he may act more quickly if he does not see
signs that Putin is taking steps toward ending the conflict.
“I don’t think 50 days is very long and it could be shorter than that,”
he said.
Ahead of Trump's announcement that he would impose a 100% tariff on
Russia’s trading partners if Putin doesn't negotiate an end to the war,
bipartisan legislation proscribing even tougher sanctions on Moscow was
gaining steam in the Senate.
The legislation, in part, calls for a 500% tariff on goods imported from
countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other
exports. It would have an enormous impact on the economies of Brazil,
China and India, which account for the vast majority of Russia’s energy
trade.
But Trump on Monday said “at a certain point it doesn’t matter” how high
the tariff is set and that "100% is going to serve the same function.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he was putting the legislation on
hold following Trump's announcement.
Trump during his campaign described the conflict as a waste of U.S.
taxpayer money and vowed to quickly end it on his first day back in
office. He deflected when asked by a reporter on Tuesday if his tougher
tone on Putin suggests he's now on Ukraine’s side in the bloody
conflict.
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President Donald Trump speaks at the "Inaugural Pennsylvania Energy
and Innovation Event" at Carnegie Mellon University, Tuesday, July
15, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“I’m on nobody’s side,” Trump said, adding this concern was for
“humanity.”
U.S. officials say they are still sorting through Ukraine’s wish
list of weaponry to determine what can be most quickly replaced
after Trump announced an agreement for Europe to supply Ukraine with
defensive munitions from existing stocks.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss arms
transfers that have not yet been approved or completed, said
Ukraine’s requests for military equipment are roughly the same as
they have been since the start of Russia’s invasion. Those include
air defenses like Patriot missiles and Advanced Precision Kill
Weapon Systems, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and short- to
medium-range ground-to-air missiles known as NASAMs, and assorted
artillery, according to the officials.
Under the terms of the very rough agreement sketched out by Trump
and Rutte on Monday, NATO members would ship billions of dollars of
these weapons to Ukraine and then purchase replacements for them
from the United States.
One official said some of the larger items — such as Patriots— could
take up to five years to produce to deliver to the European donors,
while smaller munitions like 155mm artillery shells can be produced
on a much shorter timeline.
Trump has lately changed his once friendly tune toward Putin, whom
he has long admired and whom he sided with publicly over his
national security team during his first term when asked whether
Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
In recent weeks, Trump has chastised Putin for continuing his brutal
assault on Ukrainian cities, even noting that the Russian leader
“talks nice and then he bombs everybody."
Trump has continued to blame his White House predecessors for
Putin's 2022 invasion on neighboring Ukraine — a conflict he says
would have never happened if he were reelected in 2020.
“He’s fooled a lot of people,” Trump said Monday at the White House.
“He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden. He didn’t fool me.”
In February, Trump expressed confidence that Putin “will keep his
word” on any deal to end the war in Ukraine. But in an interview
with the BBC published Tuesday, when asked whether he trusted Putin,
Trump paused before answering.
“I trust almost nobody, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “I’m
disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him. But I’m disappointed
in him."
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Associated Press writers Melissa Goldin and Matthew Lee contributed
to this report.
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