US pledges Patriot missiles

US president Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has arrived in Kyiv, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over possible changes in the Trump administration's policies on the more than three-year war.

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The president made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian president Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.

Mr Trump confirmed the US was sending Ukraine badly needed US-made Patriot air defence missiles to help it fend off Russia's intensifying aerial attacks.

He said the European Union would pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry it was sending.

But the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons. EU member countries are buying and sending weapons to Ukraine, just as Nato member countries are buying and sending weapons.