Zelensky says Trump made 'final decision' to give Ukraine Patriot license

KIEV

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 25 said U.S. President Donald Trump told him he would allow Ukraine to produce advanced Patriot air defence missiles, after a series of reversals on the issue.

Kiev is facing a shortage of the missiles, which remain the only ones reliably able to counter the ballistic missiles that Russia launches at Ukraine.

"At our last meeting, President Trump emphasised to me that yes, I have made a final decision. Ukraine will receive licenses for the production of Patriot missiles," Zelensky said in a voice note to journalists.

In July, Trump said it would be "pretty cool" to grant Ukraine the licenses, before backtracking, saying the United States should be "very careful" before granting Ukraine authorisation.

Ukraine has reported an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February, diverting supplies of the advanced systems.

Even if the licenses are granted, establishing industrial capacity would require more than a year and would not meet Kiev's immediate needs.

And Kiev has renewed calls for urgent support ahead of winter, and the threat of a repeated campaign of Russian strikes against Ukraine's power and heating infrastructure.

Kiev needs five percent of the United States' Patriot interceptor missiles to get through the winter and 10 percent to destroy all of Russia's ballistic projectiles, Zelensky said last month.

In parallel, he said Kiev is working on its own anti-ballistic systems, Freya.