After watching video of Russian strikes on Ukraine, Trump calls Merz and offers 5 Patriot systems for Ukraine - WSJ
After Russia shelled Ukraine again late on 11 July, US President Donald Trump called German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The US leader agreed with the proposal to help Kyiv.
According to Censor.NET, The Wall Street Journal writes about it.
Journalists note that this has happened after watching videos of Russian air strikes.
On 3 July, Merz had a conversation with Trump, offering to purchase 2 Patriot systems for Ukraine. A few days later, the US leader saw the video of Russia's strikes on Ukraine and called Merz himself.
"Merz was surprised, but quickly realised that Trump had lost patience with the Russian president. Trump said he was now ready to accept the offer Merz had made a few days earlier: to use German funds to buy American-made weapons for Ukraine," the newspaper writes, citing sources.
The German chancellor immediately agreed to purchase 5 Patriot systems at once, although Europe had to find funding for this.
As a reminder, US President Trump announced an agreement with NATO to supply weapons to Ukraine.
In turn, NATO Secretary General Marko Rutte said that NATO would pay for weapons for Ukraine to be produced by the United States.
In addition, the US President also threatened Russia with "very severe duties" if a peace agreement on Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
At the same time, the United States is preparing to send Ukraine Patriot systems from one country that has as many as 17 such systems in service.
