‘We have to be a little bit careful of who we license to,’ the U.S. president said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has not decided whether he would allow Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles amid its war with Russia.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the American president said he was “not sure” about granting Kyiv a license to produce missile systems and was still looking into the matter.
“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and … we have to be a little bit careful of who we license to. We don’t really license equipment,” Trump said.
The remarks came days after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and discussed the war as well as the missile systems.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy wrote that he had a “good meeting with” Trump at the Oval Office and that the two discussed “licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help.”
“We also spoke about diplomacy—it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated. Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication,” Zelenskyy added. “I am grateful to the United States for its firm support.”
Patriot missiles remain a key part of Ukraine’s missile-defense systems. They are manufactured by prominent U.S. defense companies Lockheed Martin and RTX, formerly called Raytheon.
Trump told the Financial Times that he wants the Ukraine–Russia war to end, which was a key foreign policy promise that he made during his 2024 campaign.
“Very simply put, we want the war in Ukraine with Russia ended,” Trump said. “I’m not looking for missiles. We’re looking for peace.”
