The United States will grant Ukraine licenses to manufacture interceptor missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems currently in service with the Ukrainian army. Kyiv has previously stated on multiple occasions that it faces a significant shortage of these munitions, which are necessary to intercept russian ballistic missiles.
US President Donald Trump made this announcement during a public meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday, July 8.
“A little birdie told me that we’ll give them the right to manufacture Patriot <...> We’ll show them how it’s done—it’s very complicated, but you’ll quickly grasp the complexity <...> Pretty cool, right?” Trump said.
The US leader added that Zelenskyy will no longer be able to complain that the US isn’t providing Ukraine with enough air defense missiles.
Trump also noted that not all countries would be able to produce interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system, but Ukrainians are “very smart” and will manage.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on July 2, President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is continuing negotiations to obtain licenses for missiles for the Patriot systems and is awaiting Trump’s decision on joint production.
As a reminder, also on July 2, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appealed to 40 partner countries, asking them to urgently provide interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems amid massive missile attacks by the aggressor country, russia.
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