Ukraine will get Patriot missiles through NATO, Trump says

President Trump late on Thursday said that he struck a deal with NATO to send weapons, including Patriot missiles, to Ukraine. NATO would fully reimburse the United States for the weapons and would dispense them to Ukraine, he told NBC News. The United States contributes to NATO funding. The plan was developed at the alliance’s summit last month, he said, according to the outlet. Trump again reiterated that he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine and touted what he said would be a “major announcement” regarding Russia on Monday.

The deal could help NATO allies reach their commitments under a new defense spending agreement. In June, most members of the alliance agreed to up their defense spending to 5% of their countries’ annual gross domestic products by 2035.

Is direct U.S. military assistance to Ukraine ongoing? Shipments of munitions including precision-guided rockets have already resumed, U.S. officials anonymously told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The Pentagon last week paused military assistance to Ukraine and other nations amid an inventory review.

What else is new in the Russia-Ukraine war? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday thanked U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., for attending the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine and the European Union might jointly purchase an air defense package from the United States. It wasn’t clear if he was referring to the Patriot missiles.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed a national decree to promote the Russian language, state media reported on Friday. The decree seemingly included professional development programs for teachers in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine, according to a Kremlin readout of official discussions on the measure. A bill to further limit the use of Latin script and English phrases was underway in the Russian legislative assembly, according to the Kremlin.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the result of a failed no-confidence vote against an EU chief, as well as new European commitments to Ukraine.