Trump issues warning to Putin as he does deal with Nato to arm Kyiv

Donald Trump said yesterday that he had sealed a deal with Nato allies that would lead to large-scale arms deliveries to Ukraine as he warned Moscow it would face "severe" sanctions if it did not make peace within 50 days.

- Julian Borger Pjotr Sauer Luke Harding

After a meeting with the Nato leader, Mark Rutte, Trump said they had agreed "a very big deal", in which "billions of dollars' worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States, going to Nato...and that's going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield".

Speaking in the White House alongside a delighted Rutte, the US president said the deliveries would be comprehensive and would include the Patriot missile batteries Ukraine desperately needs for its air defences against a Russian aerial onslaught.

"It's everything: it's Patriots. It's all of them. It's a full complement, with the batteries," Trump said. He did not go into any more detail, but made clear the weapons would be entirely paid for by the US's European allies.

He said initial missile deliveries would come "within days" from European stocks, on the understanding those stocks would eventually be replenished with US supplies.

At a White House lunch with religious leaders later in the day, Trump said the deal was "fully approved, fully done". He added: "We'll send them a lot of weapons of all kinds and they're going to deliver those weapons immediately to the...side of the war...and they're going to pay."

At his meeting with Trump, Rutte said a significant number of Nato allies - including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada - were ready to rearm Ukraine as part of the deal.

"They all want to be part of this. And this is only the first wave. There will be more," Rutte said.

Last week the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Berlin was "ready to acquire" additional Patriot systems.