Trump tells NATO leaders Ukraine war is 'totally out of control': report

President Donald Trump told NATO leaders in a closed-door meeting that the war in Ukraine is “totally out of control” and that something must be done to address it, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Trump arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday for the NATO summit that focused mainly on members committing to increasing their defense spending. On Wednesday, alliance members announced a major shift in defense policy, agreeing to more than double the current defense spending target from 2 percent to 5 percent of GDP by 2035.

A joint declaration stated that NATO is “united in the face of profound security threats and challenges,” particularly emphasizing the long-term threat posed by Russia and the “persistent threat” of terrorism.

“Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations,” the statement read. 

After the announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump. Following their discussion, Trump said he is considering sending additional Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine to assist in its defense against Russian attacks. He called the defensive missiles “very hard to get” but said, "We are going to see if we can make some of them available."

At a press conference, Trump said Zelensky wants to end the war and that he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about it.

"Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war," Trump said. “People are dying at levels that people haven't seen before for a long time.”

When asked why he hasn’t ended the Ukraine-Russia war in 24 hours as he previously claimed during the campaign, Trump responded, “It's more difficult than people would have any idea.”

“Vladimir Putin has been more difficult, and frankly, I had some problems with Zelensky, you might have read about them,” the president added. “It's been more difficult than other wars.”