Donald Trump
US Will Grant Ukraine License for Patriot Missiles
Picture: Reuters
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington will grant Ukraine a license for Patriot missiles, saying both Russia and Ukraine want to bring the war to an end.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving enough,” Trump said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
“It’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon,” Trump said.
Zelenskiy has repeatedly appealed for the US-made Patriot interceptors, the only weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, which are difficult to intercept because of their high speed and steep flight path.
The Ukrainian president was expected to raise the issue during his meeting with Trump.
Trump also said the US government could pressure companies to increase Patriot missile production.
“We have great power over the companies, those companies that make the Patriot,” he said.
“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right. I’m sure they will be thrilled,” he added.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor that manufactures the interceptor missiles used in the Patriot air defense system.
Russian forces launched another ballistic missile attack on Kyiv overnight, officials said Wednesday. It marked the third strike on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week and highlighted Ukraine’s critical shortage of US-made air defense interceptors.
According to Ukrainian air force data, the country’s air defenses intercepted 139 of the 169 drones launched during the overnight assault. However, they failed to shoot down any of the five ballistic missiles fired by Russia.
Trump said both sides in the war want to see the conflict end, but described both Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Zelenskiy as difficult negotiators.
“We’ve settled a lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy’s a difficult character,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskiy, who was sitting beside him.
Source: Reuters ( Adapted)
