Trump now says Ukraine cannot produce Patriot missiles
After announcing to NATO that he would give them the technology to produce them, the Republican says he has not given Kyiv permission to do so
WashingtonDonald Trump backtracks and now says he has not given Ukraine permission to manufacture US Patriot missiles. The US president said this Friday during the White House cabinet meeting that the US has not agreed to it and that they "must be very careful about allowing anyone to manufacture them." At the beginning of the month, during the NATO summit in Ankara, the magnate had announced the exact opposite, that they would allow Kyiv to have US technology to, possibly, manufacture Patriots in its territory.
The change in tone comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday. Upon leaving the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, the Ukrainian leader explained that they had discussed the license for Patriots in Ukraine. Both leaders spoke positively about the conversation, which took place in a much friendlier atmosphere than previous visits. On that same day, it was also announced that special envoy Steve Witkoff and the magnate's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are scheduled to travel to Ukraine soon.
The announcement of the manufacture of Patriots had been met with hope among Ukrainians, amidst the intensification of Russian air attacks. Although Kyiv has strengthened its drone capabilities and is capable of successfully intercepting most of the devices launched by Moscow, Patriots are essential for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Since Trump halted the shipment of large packages of military aid to Ukraine, Zelensky's army has very few Patriots at its disposal.
Shortly before Trump commented on the Patriots at the cabinet meeting, Zelensky had announced that he had spoken with US Vice President J.D. Vance, who was absent from the meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday. In a post on X, the Ukrainian leader said that the license to produce Patriots in Ukraine "remains the top priority" for his government. "We have agreed that our teams will be in contact and will work on everything we have discussed today," wrote the Ukrainian president.