Zelenskyy says 5% of US Patriot missiles could get Ukraine through winter
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that Ukraine has only one-tenth of the interceptor missiles it needs, which are to be supplied by the US to deter the Russian attacks, which have become more frequent, according to CNN.
According to the head of state, one-tenth of the current stockpile of Patriot missiles would be enough to shoot down all of Russia's ballistic missiles, and 5% would be enough for the country to get through the winter.
"This year we have two and a half times less interceptors than we had in 2025,” he said. “Russia has two times more ballistic missiles per month than they had before," the President says.
He adds that if the US "sell us 5%, we will go through the winter and save people’s lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all the Russians' ballistic missiles. I have 1%."
Zelenskyy also lifts the veil of secrecy on how he works every day to secure as many interceptor missiles for Ukraine as possible. It involves a huge number of phone calls.
"This is what I live each day: from 1% to 5%. I have some months, and million phone calls … I try to exchange something to missiles … I do some things which I can’t even share. It doesn’t mean that it’s outside of the law. But I can't speak about it," the head of state explains.
The President also adds that, as before, there are still doubts about how US President Donald Trump's promise to allow Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriot missiles will be fulfilled.
"I hope that I will get it. I don’t have now 5% and I don’t have such an acceptance. And this is for me is a big challenge, one of the biggest I had from the very beginning of this war," he concludes.
What else important to know
A month earlier, US President Donald Trump hinted that Ukraine might receive licenses to produce interceptor missiles for the Patriot system.
But soon after, reports emerged that Trump had doubts about this, and he publicly stated that it might not happen.
Meanwhile, The Atlantic recently reported that the American manufacturers of the Patriot system themselves are reluctant to grant licenses to Ukraine. They fear that Kyiv could improve the missiles and make them cheaper and faster to produce.
