US to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot systems, Trump says
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The United States will grant Ukraine the right to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, US President Donald Trump said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In particular, Trump said Washington would show Kyiv how to produce the systems.
"A little birdie told me that we would give them right to make Patriots. We'll show them how to do it," the US President said.
Trump added that the technology is "very complex" but expressed confidence that Ukraine would master it quickly.
"We have Patriots, but we need them too. Some, yes. But I think they can produce them very quickly. Once we explain it, we'll bring a company there," he said,
The President noted that if Ukraine had had a large number of Patriot systems from the very beginning, Kyiv would have been fully protected against missile attacks.
"But I think you can produce them very quickly," he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv is in talks with its international partners about obtaining licenses to manufacture Patriot anti-ballistic systems.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that one of the key topics of his meeting with Donald Trump at the summit in Türkiye will be strengthening Ukraine's air defenses, including the delivery of Patriot air defense systems.
In addition, Defense Minister's adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov previously said that Ukraine is facing a critical shortage of missiles used to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.
According to him, countries bordering Russia consider the threat from Moscow to be significant and are therefore reluctant to transfer their own stocks of such missiles to Ukraine. He specifically named Germany among those countries.
