The 4th of July was a celebration for us. It was a workday for Zelenskyy. Here is his readout of the call:
Totally missing in both his post and in statements from Trump is about the Pentagon halting "some" arms shipments to Ukraine. In his message, he mentioned working with US drone makers, as in paying for them.
At a press gaggle after the July 3rd speech, Trump said, "I'm speaking to President Zelenskyy tomorrow, early in the morning. And, yeah, very disappointed with the conversation I had with President Putin, 'cause I don't think he's there. I don't think he's there. And I'm very disappointed. Well it's not, I just think, I don't think he's looking to stop. And that's too bad. This, this fight, this isn't me. This is Biden's War. It wouldn't have happened if I were president, uh, it wouldn't have happened."
Trump will blame the Russia-Ukraine war till the end of time as being Biden's fault. And he just doesn't say it once, he has to say it multiple times for it to sink in.
"So, you know, I, I --- I had to do get to it all because it's Biden's War, and, uh, I got stuck in the middle of it, just like I did with immigration and a lot of other things that they screwed up. But I was not happy with [inaudible - probably 'Putin's'] decision."
Kyiv Independent reports that on his way to Bedminster on board Air Force One, that Trump was thinking about sending Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine.
"They're going to need something because they're being hit very hard."
This is at cross purposes to what was reported about the Pentagon halting arms deliveries, including Patriot missiles, just days ago.
Trump has not imposed new sanctions on Russia and has not approved new aid packages to Ukraine since he took office.
Trump and Zelenskyy did discuss the Russian strikes on civilians with 539 Russian drones the night before. Hence the need for anti-drone drones.
They both talked about strengthening air defense and about holding a meeting of Ukrainian and American teams in the near future.
The Pentagon now says that the arms shipments pause was due to an audit of US arms and ammunition stockpiles. This makes a lot more sense than the contradictory statements. That's good news, sort of. If they determine we don't have enough, that could mean Ukraine doesn't get any more. That better not happen.
Donald Trump now thinks Ukraine needs more help than when he took office. He thinks that Putin just wants to keep killing people. And that, actually, is something that Trump has brought up several times. That Putin is directly attacking civilians and not military targets.
Let's hope Trump's changed mind stays changed.
