KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, was in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration鈥檚 policy on the three-year war.
Trump last week said he would make a 鈥渕ajor statement鈥 on Russia on Monday. Trump made one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has about Russian President Vladimir on U.S-led peace efforts.
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a 鈥渄ictator without elections.鈥
But Russia鈥檚 relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump鈥檚 patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to 鈥淪TOP!鈥 launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader 鈥 !鈥 as the bombardments continued.
鈥淚 am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late Sunday. "He鈥檒l talk so beautifully and then he鈥檒l bomb people at night. We don鈥檛 like that.鈥
The European Union can't buy Patriot missiles
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, , with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine鈥檚 air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
At the same time, Russia鈥檚 bigger army is making to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
Trump confirmed the U.S. is sending Ukraine more badly needed and that the European Union will pay the U.S. for the 鈥渧arious pieces of very sophisticated鈥 weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
Germany has offered to finance two new Patriot systems and is awaiting official talks on the possibility of more, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Monday in Berlin.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was traveling to Washington on Monday to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Germany has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine, and Pistorius was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times that it now has only six.
Trump ally says war at inflection point
A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It鈥檚 a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of U.S. taxpayer money.
鈥淚n the coming days, you鈥檒l see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,鈥 Graham said on CBS鈥 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥 He added: 鈥淥ne of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there鈥檚 going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.鈥
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin鈥檚 envoy for international investment who took part in talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.
鈥淐onstructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,鈥 Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. 鈥淭his dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.鈥
NATO chief visits Washington
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. He planned to hold talks with Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.
Talks during Kellogg鈥檚 visit to Kyiv will cover 鈥渄efense, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,鈥 said the head of Ukraine鈥檚 presidential office, Andrii Yermak.
鈥淩ussia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump鈥檚 principle, and we support this approach,鈥 Yermak said.
Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor鈥檚 office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said.
Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight.
The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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