Ukraine updates: Trump criticizes 'crazy' use of US missiles

The United States has announced a further $500 million (€478 million) package of military aid for Ukraine.

The package included ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), among other assistance, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"The United States is providing another significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment to our Ukrainian partners as they defend against Russia's ongoing attacks," Blinken said in a statement.

Washington said 10 days ago it was sending Ukraine $725 million worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons.

Just a few days ago, the US announced a package worth around $988 million.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that President Joe Biden had "made clear, we're going to continue to provide additional packages right up to the end of this administration."

NATOhead Mark Rutte said that the US-led transatlantic alliance was not ready for the threats it would face from Russia in the coming years and called for a shift to a wartime mindset, with much higher defence spending.

“Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraineand with us,” Rutte said in a speech in Brussels, adding that the alliance is “not ready for what is coming” its way in the next four to five years.

"It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defense production and defense spending."

Russian President Vladimir Putin backs Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s efforts to achieve a Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine and an exchange of war prisoners, the Kremlin said.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead, displaced millions and triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

"The Russian side fully supports Orban’s efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement and resolving humanitarian issues related to the prisoner exchange," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

However, UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected the plan, while also criticizing Orban for undermining Western unity.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he "disagrees very vehemently" with Joe Biden's change of policy allowing Ukraine to shoot US-made missiles into Russia.

"It's crazy what's taking place," Trump said, "why are we doing that? We're just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done."

President Biden lifted the ban last month, when North Korea sent some 15,000 troops to the frontline in support ally Russia. 

Trump, also a fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly said he would end the war as soon as he takes office, though he has offered no insight as to how he plans to do so.

After meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Saturday, Trump said far too many people were dying in the war — which Putin started by invading neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Trump said: "I'm talking on both sides. It's really an advantage to both sides to get this thing done." 

ft,js/jcg (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)