Zelensky says Trump backs Patriot production in Ukraine

WASHINGTON

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot interceptor missiles following White House talks focused on air defenses and efforts to revive diplomacy with Russia.

Zelensky met privately with Trump for just over an hour on July 28 and later described the talks as “good.”

He told Fox News that Trump had accepted Ukraine’s request for the licenses, adding: “I hope that we will do co-production.”

Zelensky later met representatives of U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin to discuss joint production and technology transfers. He said Ukrainian and American teams were working on measures to begin co-production as soon as possible.

Trump posted photographs of the meeting on social media and said the talks had gone “very well,” without providing further details.

Kiev is seeking both new supplies of Patriot interceptors and the ability to manufacture them domestically as Russia intensifies its use of ballistic missiles and drones.

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission said June recorded Ukraine’s highest monthly number of civilian casualties since April 2022, with at least 293 people killed and 1,990 injured. Long-range missiles and drones accounted for 45 percent of those casualties.

The meeting reflected an improvement in relations since Trump and Zelensky’s public confrontation in the Oval Office in February 2025. The two leaders had also discussed Patriot production licenses during the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month.

Zelensky said the White House talks also covered efforts to revive negotiations with Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied on Monday that discussions on an aerial ceasefire were underway.

Later Tuesday, Zelensky met more than 60 U.S. senators and watched from the Senate gallery as lawmakers voted 86-12 to advance the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.

The legislation would expand sanctions on Russia and penalize major buyers of Russian energy. Some Democrats have raised concerns that it would give Trump broad authority to impose tariffs.

Zelensky called the vote a first step toward carrying forward the work of Graham, a prominent supporter of Ukraine who died earlier this month.

In his Fox News interview, Zelensky also said Russian President Vladimir Putin no longer held the battlefield initiative. He said Russia was suffering 30,000 troop losses a month, a figure that could not be independently verified.

The meeting took place as both sides stepped up long-range attacks. Russian officials said almost 400 Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow and the surrounding region ahead of the talks, while Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 131 drones overnight, 107 of which were intercepted.