Ukraine has never received a license to produce MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems or ammunition for them. These systems can shoot down ballistic missiles, which the aggressor country, the russian federation, systematically hits the country with.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview with the British broadcaster BBC.
According to Zelenskyy, one of Ukraine's current problems is air defense. Russian troops systematically use missiles of various types. Ukraine has a limited number of air defense systems and an even more limited number of anti-aircraft missiles for them.
"Unfortunately, our partners still do not give us licenses to independently produce systems, for example, Patriot systems, or even missiles for the systems we already have," Zelenskyy said
He added that he did not have an answer to the question of why Ukraine's partners have not yet done so.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on February 17, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine proposed to the United States to deploy the production of missiles for Patriot air defense systems in Romania or Poland. But Washington refused to grant licenses.
A day earlier, on February 16, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country had transferred to Ukraine all available resources of its own missiles for air defense systems.
In October 2025, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wants to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems with phased deliveries over several years.
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