Trump suddenly changes stance on Patriot production licenses for Ukraine
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The United States has not granted Ukraine a license to produce interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system. Moreover, it remains unclear whether such approval will be given in the future, US President Donald Trump said during a press conference.
A reporter asked Trump what steps he wanted to see from Ukraine before deciding whether to grant Kyiv a license to manufacture Patriot missiles. The journalist also reminded the US president of his earlier comments that he was not sure such a move should be approved.
"Now we haven't agreed to that. We are talking about it. It's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology. I don't think this would ever happen," he said, adding that the country receiving this technology could "someday turn on you."
He said that the United States must be very careful about sharing the secrets of this weapon and added that it cannot simply be copied.
"We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them," Trump noted.
The president said that the US needed to produce missiles a little faster, adding that they had given almost all of it away.
As previously reported, Zelenskyy met with Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit on July 8. Following the talks, the US president said that Washington could allow Ukraine to establish domestic production of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
Later, on July 28, the leaders of Ukraine and the United States again discussed the issue of producing Patriot interceptors, as well as ways to intensify the negotiation process.
During a meeting in Washington, Zelenskyy also asked Trump to provide Ukraine with an emergency winter package of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
