US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on previously announced agreements with Kyiv, telling the Financial Times he is not sure America will give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles and that Washington is still "considering" the matter.
"It's a completely exceptional weapon, and we need to be a little more careful about who we give licenses to. We generally don't license weapons production," Trump is quoted as saying by the Financial Times. He focused his attention on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine: "Simply put, we want the war between Ukraine and Russia to end. My goal is not missiles. Our goal is peace."
The statement came two days after Trump's meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The Ukrainian president called the talks "good" and said they discussed the production of Patriot interceptor missiles and "a number of other ideas." Zelensky also said he asked Trump for 300 Patriot missiles to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure in winter; the US president replied that he would try to help.
In early July, at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said after talks with Zelensky that he would give Ukraine a license to produce missiles for the Patriot system.
Trump added that his special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will visit Ukraine for the first time in the coming days. Missiles for Patriot systems are critically important ammunition for Ukraine's air defense, and Kyiv constantly complains about shortages.