Trump offers Ukraine licence to produce Patriot missiles

US President Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine could receive a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, a step Kyiv has sought as Russia intensifies ballistic missile attacks that Ukraine’s depleted air defences have struggled to stop.

“We are gonna give you a licence to make Patriots,” Trump told the Ukrainian president on Wednesday during a meeting at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey. “I think they can produce them very quickly once we explain it.”

Sitting beside Zelenskyy, Trump said the United States would “show them how to do it,” while acknowledging the system is complex. “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough,” he said.

The offer could be significant for Ukraine, which has pressed Washington for more Patriot interceptors and, in late May, formally asked the US to authorize licensed production. Patriots are among the world’s most capable air defence systems, designed to detect and intercept missiles, but they are also among the most expensive. The BBC reported that a single battery with missiles is worth about $1 billion. The Guardian reported that each interceptor costs about $3 million.

Trump said he had not yet informed the companies that make the system, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, now RTX Corporation. “But that’ll work out alright,” he said.

The pledge may not ease Ukraine’s short-term shortage. “We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves too,” Trump said, indicating the US would not be able to quickly send large numbers from its own stockpile.

Patriot interceptors are in short supply globally. The BBC, citing the US Department of Defence, reported that only 600 missiles are produced per year. The Guardian reported that the US had until recently been producing no more than 60 a month, with the figure now increased, and that US stockpiles may not be replenished for domestic use until 2028. The BBC, citing the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reported that the US used more than half of its stockpile during its war with Iran earlier this year.

Ukraine’s need has grown more urgent as Moscow increases ballistic missile strikes. Zelenskyy has described ballistic missiles as Russia’s “last major advantage” because they travel at high speed on a steep trajectory, making them difficult to intercept. Earlier this week, the Ukrainian air force said a “serious shortage” of interceptor missiles meant none of the 23 ballistic missiles Russia fired on Sunday night were shot down. More than 20 people died in that attack, according to the BBC.

Skepticism remains over whether Ukraine could manufacture Patriot interceptors on its own territory soon. Ivan Stupak, a military expert and former Ukrainian security service officer, told the BBC that Patriots are vital but “Ukraine is not able to produce such kinds of advanced munition, because it’s really sophisticated, cutting-edge equipment.” He said production was more likely to be “deployed to European soil instead — and supervised,” and could take many months.

George Beebe, a former senior CIA Russia analyst now at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told The Guardian that licensing production “will do little to fix Ukraine’s urgent air defence problems.” He said Russia is firing close to 100 ballistic missiles at Ukraine each month and warned that any Ukrainian production site would be vulnerable to Russian attack.

Trump also discussed Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russia, saying, “It’s an escalation, but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries were needed to show Moscow “how difficult it is to defend its airspace” and push the Kremlin toward ending the war.

Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he said he speaks often, wants a deal to end the war. He again raised the possibility of a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting and asked whether Zelenskyy would travel to Moscow. “It’s difficult — there are a lot of Ukrainian drones there,” Zelenskyy replied.