US has not yet approved Patriot license for Ukraine, State Department says
Illustrative photo: US makes new statement on Patriot production in Ukraine (RBC-Ukraine collage)
A decision on granting Ukraine a license to produce missiles for Patriot air defense systems has not yet been made, and diplomatic talks on the issue are ongoing, states US State Department spokesperson Ian Bateson, according to DW.
According to Bateson, the United States has not yet made a final decision on producing missiles for Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine.
Despite public statements by US President Donald Trump about his readiness to grant Kyiv the relevant license, consultations are still ongoing.
"Trump did not say that this would happen. But he spoke a lot about the Ukrainian army, and they had a good meeting between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Trump. President Trump spoke about a good impression... What he says about the successes of the Ukrainian army is, of course, a good sign. But it is still unclear exactly what will happen next, precisely because diplomatic negotiations are ongoing right now," Bateson noted.
He urged people not to view the lack of specific details at this stage as a "bad sign," adding that the White House chief could be described as "a person of action" who expects corresponding actions from others.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting with Trump in New York that the US leader was positive about granting the licenses.
"We asked President Trump to move this more quickly. He is positive about the licenses," Zelenskyy said.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that US company Raytheon, which manufactures missiles for Patriot air defense systems, was ready to organize their production directly in Ukraine.
According to the head of state, Ukraine had asked the US side to help speed up the process as much as possible.
At the same time, European countries are also trying to address the shortage of air defense systems.
In particular, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin could help cover the shortage of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot, but the deployment of their production in Europe requires official authorization and a license from the United States.
