US presses on with Ukraine Patriot missile talks, sources say, despite Trump’s doubts

WASHINGTON – The US is pressing ahead with talks on allowing Ukraine to make Patriot interceptor missiles, which Kyiv urgently wants to defend against Russian attacks, even after President Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said.

The discussions include an option for Ukraine to build some components for final assembly elsewhere in Europe, the sources added.

Kyiv has been seeking more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot missile and one of the few weapons capable of downing the ballistic missiles Russia has been launching into Ukraine in growing numbers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug 1 warned that the country had run out of Patriot interceptors, and that only one of 27 ballistic missiles fired by Moscow that day had been shot down.

During a meeting in July with Zelensky in Ankara, Turkey, Trump said the US would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture PAC-3s in a boost for Kyiv.

But last week, Trump appeared to reverse course after what two of the sources described as a challenging meeting with Zelensky at the White House. He told reporters that the US had not agreed to letting Ukraine build Patriot missiles and the US must be “very careful about letting somebody build them”.

Zelensky’s calls for domestic production of interceptors, needed for the Patriot system, had been largely set aside by Washington while the war continued, given security concerns raised by industry executives and US military officials, three of the sources said.

Washington’s envoy to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, is now leading the push to reach an agreement and travelled to Kyiv in July to discuss the issue and assess options with Ukrainian officials and weapons industry executives, the four sources said.

“No order was given to halt the discussions,” one of the sources said, adding that talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others.

The White House declined to comment on the matter.

The options under consideration include building Patriot components in Ukraine and sending them to Germany for final assembly, adding Ukraine to an existing US-European Patriot interceptor programme, and allowing Kyiv to build a cheaper version of the PAC-3, according to the four sources.

The sources were granted anonymity to speak freely about the administration’s internal deliberations.

Whitaker used his July visit to Kyiv “to explore collaboration opportunities on battlefield innovations, such as drones, which will benefit the US warfighter”, his spokesperson said, without specifically mentioning the Patriot initiative.

A senior Trump administration official said that the US is “exploring several potential pathways for future defense industrial cooperation with Ukraine”, adding that any agreement must prioritise the security of US technology.

Ukraine’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Surprise change from Trump

Trump’s sceptical tone on a Patriot deal, an apparent reversal of his support for granting Ukraine a licence to produce the missiles, caught many by surprise, including Zelensky.

The Ukrainian leader underscored the need for his country to defend itself in a subsequent phone call with US Vice-President JD Vance, who reassured him that agreements between presidents would be honoured, one of the sources said.

Among the options under consideration, the most feasible would be making components in Ukraine and assembling them in Germany, said a US official familiar with the matter. An older Patriot model is already made in Germany and the more advanced PAC-3 is expected to be produced there, as well.

Separately, said the sources, Ukraine could potentially join Lockheed Martin’s new lower-cost Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile, announced in July.

Even if Ukraine secures an agreement to manufacture Patriot interceptors, it would not start receiving new missiles for a year or more. It will need other missiles to meet its immediate needs, and is urging allies to transfer some of theirs.

Ukraine’s former ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, last week said Kyiv was also exploring the long-term purchase of PAC-3 interceptors, and swapping deliveries with other countries to get them sooner. She said Lockheed Martin was fully engaged and was working to send a team to Ukraine soon.

Lockheed Martin did not reply to a request for comment on the matter.

US officials say licensing US weapons production in Europe has been under active discussion since Russia’s 2022 invasion exposed gaps in Europe’s own arsenals, and some deals have already been struck.

Officials cautioned that opening new component lines is not simple, with production typically not starting until three to seven years after a licensing deal is signed.

Global stocks of the high-end missiles have dwindled since the Iran war, with Patriots earmarked for Ukraine diverted to the US military and US allies in the Gulf. Ukraine hopes that a production deal would allow it to rebuild its arsenal over time. REUTERS