US grants Ukraine license to produce Patriot missiles

In a significant policy shift, the United States will grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense interceptor missiles domestically, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The announcement, made during a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, aims to address a critical shortage of advanced air defense capabilities as Ukraine faces intensified Russian ballistic missile attacks.

President Trump stated the U.S. would provide the technical expertise and rights for Ukraine to manufacture the sophisticated systems. "We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots," Trump said. "We'll show them how to do it." He expressed confidence that Ukraine's defense industry could establish production quickly, though he noted the primary manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and RTX, had not yet been formally informed of the decision. The move responds to a formal request from Kyiv, which has sought such a license for over six months.

The decision comes as Ukraine grapples with a severe depletion of interceptor missiles. Officials have described ballistic missiles as Russia's last major battlefield advantage, citing...