Zelenskyy Says Trump Approved Patriot Production Licences

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump had told him the United States would grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, describing the decision as final. The account, which Zelenskyy gave to reporters after meeting Trump in New York earlier this week, has not been accompanied by a formal agreement or publicly specified implementation plan. Zelenskyy said Trump told him Ukraine would receive the licences during their recent meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He also said the two countries’ teams were continuing work on setting up production in Ukraine. The announcement marks a reported shift after Trump had previously said the United States had not agreed to transfer the technology and that discussions were continuing. The status of the decision remains unclear. On September 23, the U.S. State Department told Deutsche Welle that licence discussions were ongoing and no final decision had been made. That statement preceded Zelenskyy’s account on September 25, but the available information does not establish whether the U.S. position changed in the interim.