As President Donald Trump hardens his position toward Moscow and seeks new ways to bring the conflict to an end, he is leaving open the prospect of allowing shipments of longer-range missiles to the country that would allow it to strike deeper into Russia,

After European leaders stepped up military spending, President Trump aligned himself more closely with them on the war. But his tariffs threats have left bruises.

The change in Trump’s approach may also mean that the $US8 billion (£6 billion) of frozen Russian assets in the US (and US$223 billion in Europe) could be released to aid Ukraine, which would provide a ready means to pay for the US arms transfers.