U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, citing the country's urgent need for defense because Russian President Vladimir Putin "talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening."

Trump did not specify how many Patriots he intends to send but emphasized that the European Union would reimburse the full cost.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for stronger air defense 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. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C.

"We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 percent for that, and that's the way we want it," Trump said.

He plans to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later this week to discuss Ukraine and other matters.

(With input from Reuters)