Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that US President Donald Trump will allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles, a key demand as Kyiv tries to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks.
“There are concrete agreements in place,” Zelensky told reporters. “During our last meeting, President Trump emphasized that, yes, I have made the final decision: Ukraine will receive a license to manufacture Patriot missiles.”
The two met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, where Zelensky called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “patient zero,” saying the more freedom he has to act, “the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else.”
The question of whether Trump would fulfil his promise to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptors – a top-tier track-and-destroy defense system Ukrainians hope will cut through Russia’s relentless ballistic missiles strikes – has loomed over Ukraine for months.
Trump suggested Ukraine would gain the right to make Patriots on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey back in July, but cooled on the offer weeks later. CNN has approached the White House for comment.
Patriot interceptors are one of the few weapons capable of taking ballistic missiles down. But a recent global supply crunch prompted dozens of countries to rush to reinforce their defense systems, seriously affecting Ukraine’s supplies.
Russia has sought to exploit that by ramping up ballistic attacks, hammering Ukraine – and Kyiv in particular – with near constant aerial attacks for around a month.
Without Patriots, Ukraine has struggled to fend off the Russian onslaught and the civilian death toll has risen significantly.
On Friday, seven civilians including a teenager were killed and 59 more injured in a series of daytime drone strikes on Kyiv, according to the capital’s mayor. It’s one of eight regions that came under attack, Ukrainian officials said.
In an August interview with CNN, Zelensky revealed that Ukraine possesses just a tenth of the interceptor missiles it needs to thwart the surge in Russian attacks.
He added that 5% of the US’ current stockpile would defend Ukraine from Russian assault throughout the winter, but he believes that 10% would destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles.
Zelensky also said Friday that Washington had proposed organizing three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US.
“Regarding the trilateral meeting, the US side proposed organizing it,” Zelensky said, adding that no date had yet been set, and the US had suggested the United Arab Emirates as the location.
“We will brief the European side and discuss these details with them, the Americans will talk to the Russians, and in ten days’ time we will return with a particular perspective and a result,” Zelensky said.
So far, Russia has made no commitment to trilateral talks, saying only they could happen “soon.”
Putin said Friday that all proposals to resume talks are on the table but that Russia still needs to consider what’s in its best interest.
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova contributed reporting.
