Trump Floats Ukraine Patriot Interceptor Production License Ahead Of Zelenskyy Meeting

ANKARA, Turkey — President Donald Trump said he plans to allow Ukraine to produce critically needed Patriot interceptor missiles, a key ask from Kyiv as it seeks to maintain the upper hand in its war with Russia.

“One of the things we’re going to be talking about is, we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit. “That’s pretty cool, right?”

Ukraine has urgently sought more interceptors as Kyiv tries to defend its cities against Russian missile barrages. It was unclear whether Trump meant Ukraine could produce the missiles inside of Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe. Zelenskyy has sought both.

Trump struck a largely positive tone about Zelenskyy throughout his comments, complimenting the Ukrainian president’s strategy in waging war against Russia and pledging some sort of security guarantee for Kyiv if Russia attacks again after the war ends.

"We're going to work on a security guarantee,” Trump said. “If we can make the right deal, we'll help Europe.”

He added: “If we make a deal, Russia is going to be very happy, and they're going to get on with other things."

On Patriots, Trump framed the idea as a way of shifting responsibility to Ukraine to manufacture the weapons itself.

“This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough,” Trump said. “I’d say: Make them yourself.”

Trump appeared to be referring to interceptor missiles in response to several questions about them from reporters, though he was not specific about what permissions he was considering granting.

The Patriot is one of the most complex and sought-after air defense systems in the Western arsenal, and any licensing arrangement would likely require buy-in from U.S. industry and government agencies.

Trump said he had not yet cleared the idea with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, the companies that make the Patriot system.

“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right,” Trump said. “Sure, they’ll be thrilled.”

He said Ukraine would be capable of mastering the production process, despite describing the technology as “complex.”

“It’s very complex, actually, but you’ll figure out the complexity quickly,” Trump said.

Zelenskyy’s supporters worried Trump’s sour mood at the beginning of the summit would mar their meeting. But the meeting appeared to be one of their better sessions since Trump returned to office.

And while Trump was poised to help Zelenskyy with air defense, he shut down the possibility of additional financial pressure on Russia, his other key request for Washington.

"We have a lot of pressure on President Putin,” Trump said, in response to a question on whether he would levy more sanctions on Moscow. ”I don't think he's thrilled with what's happening. There's a lot of pressure for President Putin to get it done."