The U.S. Will Allow Ukraine to Manufacture Missiles for the Patriot System: What Else Did Zelenskyy and Trump Agree On at the NATO Summit?
8 July 17:10
In Ankara, where the NATO summit is underway, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump. The two leaders held a joint press briefing on Wednesday, July 8. "Komersant Ukrainian" has compiled the key points from their remarks.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to grant Ukraine licenses to independently manufacture missiles for the Patriot air defense systems, which are critical for countering Russian ballistic missile strikes.
According to Trump, Washington intends to share technology and grant official authorization to manufacture scarce air defense munitions directly in Ukraine. In addition, the U.S. is prepared to provide the necessary support, despite the high technological complexity of these processes. He also expressed confidence that, despite the difficulties, Ukraine will “quickly figure it out” and manage the production.
“We plan to grant you (Ukraine— Ed.) a license to manufacture (interceptor missiles— Ed.) Patriot. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Trump said, addressing President Zelenskyy.
The American leader jokingly added that after that, Zelenskyy would not be able to complain “that we’re giving too few” anti-ballistic missiles, since Kyiv would receive all the tools to independently meet its own defense needs.
“These are defensive weapons, which I like better than offensive ones,” Trump commented.
In addition, the White House chief announced that he intends to hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Donald Trump, the Kremlin leader’s conditions for ending the war are changing. The U.S. president noted that the United States is working “to save people’s lives.”
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For his part, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his support and stated that peace talks are now the top priority:
“I think we all understand what needs to be done. Now we need to figure out how to do it. And I think you, for your part, will do whatever is necessary.”
During the briefing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the U.S. and Ukraine are discussing the possibility of Ukraine launching strikes deep into Russian territory so that Russia can see how difficult it is for it to defend its airspace.
“This is an escalation (strikes on oil refineries—Ed.) that could lead to an end to the war,” Trump said.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that it is currently impossible to predict when the war in Ukraine will end.
“No, I don’t have a timeline (for the end of the war—Ed.). You can’t have a timeline. You know, too many things have come to an end right now,” Trump said.
At the same time, the U.S. president expressed hope that Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin would reach an agreement on this matter.
When asked by the U.S. president whether Zelenskyy would travel to Moscow to meet with Putin, he replied:
“It’s dangerous there. Ukrainian drones are flying there. Better to go to Europe.”
The U.S. leader also emphasized that the United States has its own interests in Ukraine:
“Minerals, resources, reserves of the best land in the world. And we need to take advantage of what this land can and does provide.”
At the same time, Donald Trump stressed that the war would never have started if he had been president, but he nevertheless promised that the White House would “consider and ensure security guarantees for Ukraine.”
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