Plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is set to meet President Donald Trump this week on the heels of the U.S. leader announcing plans to sell NATO allies weaponry that it can then pass on to Ukraine. NATO announced on Sunday that Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and would hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as members of Congress. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the visit. A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back Russia. It's a cause that Trump, who during his campaign made quickly ending the war a top priority, had previously dismissed as being a waste of U.S. taxpayer money. "In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS' "Face the Nation. He added, "One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table." The Rutte visit comes as Trump last week teased that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces. Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who appeared with South Carolina lawmaker on CBS, said there is also growing consensus on Capitol Hill and among European officials about tapping some of the $300 billion in Russian assets frozen by Group of Seven countries early in the war to help Ukraine. "It's time to do it," Blumenthal said. Rubio said Friday that some of the U.S.-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the U.S., he said. "It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (U.S.) factory and get it there," Rubio told reporters last week during visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu in an interview published Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche said that European officials have been making the case to the Trump administration to bolster air defense capabilities with any coming packages. He added that France is in a "capacity hole" and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine new ground-air missiles. Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats as well as European allies to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia's oil industry and hit Moscow with U.S. sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 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. "The big offender here is China, India and Brazil," Graham said. "My goal is to end this war. And the only way you are going to end this war is to get people who prop up Putin— make them choose between the American economy and helping Putin." That revenue is critical in helping keep the Russian war machine humming as the U.S. and Europe have imposed significant import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia, affecting sectors like finance, energy, transport, technology, and defense. Trump for months had threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia's oil industry. But the Republican leader has become increasingly exasperated with Putin in recent days and has laid into the Russian leader for prolonging the war. "We get a lot of bull---- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump said last week in an exchange with reporters. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Congress has been prepared to act on the legislation, sponsored by Graham and Blumenthal, for some time. The bill has overwhelming support in the Senate, but Republican leadership has been waiting for Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it. The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation. Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions, tariffs or other penalties, without having to cede control to Congress. Under the initial bill, the president "may terminate" the penalties under certain circumstances, but immediately reimpose them if the violations resume. Graham has said the president would be allowed to waive the sanctions, for 180 days, and could also renew a waiver. Some Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the waivers. But Blumenthal downplayed the differences and said the legislation would give Trump a "sledgehammer" to utilize on Putin. "The waiver language we will have in this bill is very much like the provisions have existed in past similar measures," Blumenthal said. He added: "What I think is most important right now is our unity."