Donald Trump has said that US weapons are already “being shipped” to Ukraine as Washington ramps up its military support for Kyiv. A number of Kyiv’s European allies will purchase Patriot air defence missile systems from the US to assist Ukraine’s defence.

Russia continued its nightly bombardment of Ukrainian cities overnight into Tuesday, after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would send military equipment to Kyiv.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has endorsed a plan to have European allies buy billions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment that can be transferred to Ukraine as Kyiv looks for way to better defend itself against intensified Russian attacks.

The change in Trump’s approach may also mean that the $US8 billion (£6 billion) of frozen Russian assets in the US (and US$223 billion in Europe) could be released to aid Ukraine, which would provide a ready means to pay for the US arms transfers.