President Trump moved to a more aggressive footing with Russia on Monday, promising to funnel weapons through NATO allies to Ukraine and threatening to hammer Moscow’s trading partners with sanctions.

Even though there is a lengthy hiatus of 50 days before those sanctions would take effect, it’s still a notable shift from the president.

Trump had long been skeptical of the pace and scale of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

It has been only a little more than four months since he and Vice President Vance had a famously fractious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

In the aftermath of that meeting, where Zelensky was assailed for his supposed ingratitude and the weakness of his bargaining position, it seemed like the choking off of U.S. military aid to Kyiv was near-certain. That, in turn, would make a Russian victory in the war begun by President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion equally inevitable.

Now, the picture looks very different. Trump — for reasons that appear personal as much as strategic — has become increasingly irritated with Putin’s refusal to bring the war to an end.

On Monday, meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump complained that he enjoys “very pleasant” phone calls with Putin only to see Russian........

© The Hill