Trump Says US Will Authorize Ukraine to Produce Patriot Missiles

According to Lianhe Zaobao citing Reuters, US President Donald Trump said the United States will authorize Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles to strengthen its air defenses, making the remarks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8. Zelensky has repeatedly urged the US to provide more Patriot systems or allow Ukraine to produce the interceptor missiles, which are among the few air-defense weapons Ukraine has that can intercept Russian ballistic missiles. Trump said both Russia and Ukraine want to end the war, but described Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky as “tough” figures, adding that while the US has helped broker multiple ceasefires, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has not been as easy to resolve as he expected. Zelensky said he hoped to discuss “some very important details” with Trump and said he believed Trump would do everything possible to end the war. Ukrainian officials said Russia again fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight on Wednesday, marking the third attack on the capital in less than a week, as Ukraine’s Patriot interceptor stockpiles tighten and pressure on Kyiv’s air defenses increases.