Trump walks back agreement to give Ukraine license to produce Patriot missiles

US President Donald Trump has walked back his earlier agreement to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, telling the Financial Times he is "not sure" about the license and that "we're looking at it." This reverses his July statement at the NATO summit in Ankara, where he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he would give the license. Zelensky had said Trump "accepted that he will give us licenses." Ukraine's envoy to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, said discussions with the Pentagon could take 12 months to five years.

US President Donald Trump has walked back his earlier agreement to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, telling the Financial Times on Thursday that he is "not sure" about the license and that "we're looking at it." This reverses his July statement at the NATO summit in Ankara, where he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he would give the license, saying "We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots." Zelensky had said after a meeting with Trump that the president "accepted that he will give us licenses." Ukraine's envoy to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, said Ukraine was in discussions with the Pentagon about a license to produce Patriot PAC-3 missiles itself, but that process could take 12 months to five years. Trump told the FT he was more interested in ending the war in Ukraine than in giving Ukraine the defensive weapon, saying "Very simply put, we want the war in Ukraine with Russia ended." The article notes Ukraine has become a world leader in drone production but has yet to protect itself from ballistic missiles.