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Donald Trump said Wednesday he may allow Ukraine to produce desperately needed Patriot interceptor missiles.
The potential deal came on the sidelines of the second day of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where Zelenskyy and Trump discussed ways to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and possible means to end the war.
The last week has been especially dangerous, with intensified ballistic attacks on Kyiv and other cities – and signals that Ukraine is either low or even out of anti-missile interceptors.
Yesterday, Russia launched the third ballistic missile attack on the capital in a week, while Ukraine is left with almost no capabilities to shoot down those targets.
Visitors queue to take a closer look at a Patriot missile launcher during the Armed Forces Day at the Airbase in Laage, Germany, on June 06, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP via Getty Images)
“One of the things we’re going to be talking about is we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool, right? This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I’d say: Make them yourself,” Trump said during a press conference with Zelenskyy.
Such a licensing deal, even if it could be reached – and that’s still to be determined – could take many months or even years to bear fruit. Interceptor missiles cannot be rapidly built due to its technical complexity.
It would take about ten years at the current production rate to meet the current demand for Patriot missiles, Bohdan Dolintse, a defense expert who works in defense R&D, told The Arsenal.
“We need to understand that developing such [domestic] solutions can be both time-consuming and very expensive,” Dolintse added.
U.S. support has become even more vital for Ukraine after some European partners are reconsidering their contributions. Namely, the Netherlands and Bulgaria cannot provide direct military aid to Ukraine anymore, while the Czech Republic’s leader has said that the country will not make any financial commitments to supporting Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (L) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
On July 6, Russia attacked civilian and critical infrastructure with 29 ballistic missiles among other aerial weapons. No missiles were intercepted that night, due to an apparent shortage of air defense missiles.
“The enemy is carrying out several actions. The first is attempting to attack industrial and economic targets...The second is putting pressure on the civilian population...The enemy deliberately targets specific buildings in an effort to maximize civilian casualties,” Dolintse said.
Before the 2026 NATO summit, Zelenskyy repeatedly emphasized the need for a Patriot production license.
This was the seventh time that Trump and Zelenskyy met in person during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Their first meeting at the Oval Office in the White House devolved into a heated argument where Trump stated that Ukraine was not grateful enough for U.S. support and had little leverage in the peace negotiations.
Trump was reportedly reluctant to attend the NATO summit, but arrived because it was hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom he considers a friend.
During a press conference before the U.S.-Ukraine talks, both leaders stated that the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is shifting, as Kyiv continues to successfully strike deep inside Russia, which is making Putin change his conditions for a peace agreement.
“I think that they are changing anyway, because at the very beginning of the full-scale war, he [Putin] was stronger. And now I think he is losing initiative on the battlefield,” Zelenskyy said.
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