“There are specific agreements. During his latest meeting with me, Trump stressed: yes, I have made the final decision, Ukraine will receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that to reporters on September 25, in a voice note he sent to journalists, and it is the whole basis of the announcement so far. The White House had not commented when CNN approached it.
The distinction matters. Washington is not promising to ship interceptors from American stockpiles. It is giving Ukraine permission to build them.
The two presidents met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York earlier in the week. Zelenskyy gave no timeline for the licenses. Two days before, on September 23, State Department spokesman Ian Bateson had said Washington had not yet made a final decision and that negotiations were continuing.
A year of reversals
Euronews described the decision as coming after a series of reversals. In July, around the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump suggested Ukraine could make Patriots, calling it “pretty cool,” then cooled on the idea weeks later and said the United States should be “very careful.” Kyiv has been pushing for the licence ever since, arguing the interceptors are central to defending against Russian ballistic missiles.
The need is acute. Ukraine has reported an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February and supplies were diverted. In an August interview with CNN, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has about a tenth of the interceptors it needs. He put the requirement at 5% of the US stockpile to get through winter and 10% to destroy all of Russia’s ballistic missiles. Separately, European NATO members are supplying additional interceptors through a special mechanism.
Even with a licence, nothing arrives soon. Euronews reported that setting up industrial capacity would take more than a year and would not meet Kyiv’s immediate needs. ABC News quoted experts who said the plan could take years.
Strikes on the day of the announcement
Russian attacks continued as Zelenskyy spoke. A drone hit a residential building in Kyiv on Friday morning and killed a 14-year-old boy. AFP journalists saw apartments on the ninth and tenth floors charred. Zelenskyy called it “an absolutely savage and sickening strike, devoid of any military logic.” Kyiv’s mayor said seven civilians, including a teenager, were killed and 59 injured in daytime drone strikes on the capital. Another person died in a repeat strike on a postal facility in Odesa region.
Zelenskyy also said Washington had proposed three-way talks among Ukraine, Russia and the US, with the United Arab Emirates as the venue and no date set. Russia has made no commitment beyond saying such talks could happen “soon.”
Sources
- Trump gives final approval for Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles, Zelenskyy says
- Zelenskyy says Trump has decided to grant Ukraine Patriot licence
- Zelensky says Trump has made ‘final decision’ to allow Kyiv to make Patriot missiles | CNN
