Trump ‘not sure’ whether to let Ukraine build Patriot missiles

“Donald Trump has said he has not yet decided whether to let Ukraine build a successor to the Patriot air defense system, raising questions about whether Washington will support one of Kyiv’s top priorities.

 

Updated with new comments from Trump.

 

The US president told the Financial Times in a telephone interview on Thursday that he was “not sure” whether Washington would grant Ukraine a license to build Patriot missiles, adding that “it’s being considered.”

 

“It’s a very unique weapon and we have to be a little careful who we license. We don’t really license weapons,” Trump said.

 

Trump’s comments came just two days after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. Zelensky called the meeting “good” and said the two leaders discussed “the production of Patriot interceptor missiles and a few other ideas.”

 

Later on Friday, Trump said the United States must be “very careful” about granting Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense missiles.

 

“These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about allowing anyone to produce them,” Trump said at the US presidential residence in Maryland when asked about allowing Ukraine to produce these missiles; BNS quoted him as saying.

 

Back in early July, at a NATO summit in Turkey, the US president had stated that Washington would grant Kyiv a license to produce Patriot missiles.

 

The Patriot air defense system is crucial to Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian ballistic missiles, which are used to attack military facilities in Kyiv and other cities in the country.”