US President Donald Trump says he is not yet convinced that Washington should allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defence missiles under licence, despite the issue being one of Kyiv’s top defence priorities.
The proposal was discussed during Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House earlier this week.
However, in a telephone interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he remained undecided.
“I’m not sure,” Trump said, adding that “we’re looking at it.”
He explained that the Patriot system is highly sensitive military technology and that the United States must be cautious when deciding who receives production licences.
“It’s a very unusual weapons system, and we have to be a little careful about who we license.
We don’t really license equipment,” Trump told the Financial Times.
Russia has significantly intensified its ballistic missile attacks against Ukraine, and the US-made Patriot air defence system remains the only operational system currently capable of intercepting many of those missiles.
Earlier in July, following his meeting with Zelensky during the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump announced that the United States would grant Ukraine the right to produce Patriot air defence missiles under licence. His latest comments suggest that the administration is still reviewing the proposal and has not yet reached a final decision.
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