Ankara, Turkey. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles, describing the system as a defensive weapon. He made the comments during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the NATO summit in Ankara.
Trump announces Patriot license
Trump said the United States would allow Ukraine to make Patriot missiles and said both Russia and Ukraine wanted to see the war settled.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving ’em enough,” Trump said at the meeting.
He said he preferred the Patriot system because it is defensive. “It’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon,” Trump said.
Ukraine seeks more interceptors
Zelenskiy has repeatedly asked for the U.S.-made interceptors, which are the only weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic projectiles. Such missiles are difficult to intercept because of their high speed and steep flight path.
He was expected to raise the issue with Trump during their meeting.
Production pressure on companies
Trump said pressure could be applied to companies to increase Patriot missile production.
“We have great power over the companies, those companies that make the Patriot,” he said.
“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right. I’m sure they will be thrilled,” he said.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the interceptor missiles used in the Patriot system.
Renewed missile strikes on Kyiv
Russian forces fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv again overnight, officials said on Wednesday, in the third attack on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week. The attacks came as Ukraine faces a critical shortage of U.S.-made air-defence interceptors.
Air force data showed that Ukraine’s air defences intercepted 139 of 169 drones launched in the overnight strikes across the country. The data also showed that Ukrainian forces did not shoot down any of the five ballistic missiles used by Russia.