Photo: Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands
The United States has not yet made a final decision on granting Ukraine a license to produce missiles for Patriot air defense systems, despite repeated public statements by President Donald Trump that Washington is prepared to authorize such production, Deutsche Welle reported on September 23.
State Department representative Ian Bateson said the issue remained under discussion and that Trump had not actually said the license would be granted.
“Trump did not say that this would happen,” Bateson said. He added that the U.S. president had spoken positively about the Ukrainian military following his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but that it remained unclear what the next steps would be because diplomatic discussions were still underway.
Bateson also urged observers not to interpret the lack of details as a negative sign. He described Trump as a “man of action” who expects the parties to the war to take concrete steps of their own.
License talks could take time
Washington had previously warned that approval of a production license would not immediately solve Ukraine’s shortage of Patriot interceptors.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said a long-term agreement on missile production was unlikely to be concluded before winter and that additional time would be needed before Ukraine could begin producing the missiles.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said earlier in September that even if Washington granted the necessary licenses, scaling up production would take years and therefore would not address Ukraine’s immediate air-defense needs.
Trump first publicly raised the possibility of allowing Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors during the NATO summit in July. In September, he said negotiations were underway over a license for less sophisticated versions of the missiles.
Zelenskyy seeks missiles for winter
Following his September 22 meeting with Trump in New York, Zelenskyy said the United States had a positive attitude toward licensed production of Patriot systems and interceptors in Ukraine, but Kyiv still had no concrete answer on an additional package of missiles for the coming winter.
The issue remains particularly important as Ukraine faces continued Russian missile and drone attacks and a shortage of advanced interceptors. Reuters reported last week that Ukraine had nearly exhausted its U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, while future deliveries remained uncertain.
For Ukraine, domestic production could eventually help increase interceptor supplies, but the licensing process and subsequent expansion of production would not provide an immediate replacement for missiles needed during the current air campaign.
