WASHINGTON, July 24. /TASS/. The European Union should have begun paying for US weapons supplied to Ukraine three years ago, US President Donald Trump said.
"We just made a deal with the European Union where they're going to pay the United States of America 100% of the cost of all military equipment. They're going to ship it to the European Union, and then they'll distribute it, and much of it will go to Ukraine. It's been a long time since you've heard those words. We're in for $350 billion but now we send it to Europe, and Europe pays," he told an artificial intelligence conference in Washington D.C.
"But they (the Europeans - TASS) are going to spend that money in the United States with our defense companies, and we're going to send it (weaponry - TASS) to them, and they'll distribute the equipment that we send. So that's the way it should have been three years ago, frankly," he noted.
"We had a tremendous NATO meeting a few weeks ago, and it was pretty amazing, actually. What happened? They agreed to go from 2% to 5% [of GDP] <…> That's a big difference. It's trillions of dollars, actually trillions," he added.
Trump announced on July 14 that the United States would continue supplying weapons and military equipment to Ukraine if Europe covers the cost. NATO, he said, would be responsible for coordinating the process.
The US president also warned that if Washington and Moscow fail to reach a settlement within 50 days, the United States would impose import tariffs of approximately 100% on Russia and its trading partners.