US President Donald Trump says he will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin “talks nice but then he bombs people at night”.

Speaking at Joint Base Andrews military airfield near Washington, on Sunday (local time), Trump described the deal as a business transaction.

“The European Union is paying for it. We’re not paying anything for it, but we will send it,” he said.

Trump has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin because the Russian leader has resisted his attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks from Russia.

“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people,” Trump said.

“He talks nice and then bombs people at night. But there’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it.

“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 per cent for that, and that’s the way we want it.”

Trump plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine and other issues this week. He has not ruled out unveiling more sanctions.

Zelensky has been desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian fire. He has accused Russia of increasingly terrorising his country’s civilians, reporting that at least 1800 drones were launched at Ukraine in the past week.

Russian forces also dropped more than 1200 glide bombs on Ukraine this week and launched 83 missiles, Zelensky said on Telegram on Sunday.

“The Russians are increasing the terror against cities and municipalities, to intimidate our people even further,” he wrote.

He also praised Ukraine’s air defence.

Specially developed interceptor drones shot down hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed combat drones launched at Ukraine this week, Zelensky said.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years, in large parts thanks to foreign weapons.

Trump’s pledge of more weapons for Kyiv came days after he blasted Russian after Moscow’s forces hit a Ukrainian maternity hospital on Friday, injuring nine people, and after a fresh barrage of drones and missiles aimed at Ukraine over the weekend.

Ahead of a visit to flood sites in Texas, Trump said people would “be seeing things happen” on Russia. A day earlier, he’d promised a “major announcement” on the Russia-Ukraine war on Monday.

NATO has said Rutte will be in Washington DC on Monday and Tuesday. He will meet Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Congress.

-with AAP