“We’re going to have to send more weapons – defensive weapons primarily,” Trump told journalists at the White House.

“They’re getting hit very, very hard,” he said of Ukraine, while saying he is “not happy” with President Vladimir Putin.

Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Trump.

Ukraine is contending with some of Russia’s largest missile and drone attacks of the three-year war, and a halt to the provision of munitions posed a potentially serious challenge for Kyiv.

Under former president Joe Biden, Washington committed to providing more than US$65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

But Trump – long skeptical of assistance for Ukraine – has not followed suit, announcing no new military aid packages for Kyiv since he took office in January of this year.