Zelensky: Licences for Patriot agreed with US at political level, interceptors to be delivered

KYIV, July 9 - Ukraine and the United States have reached a political agreement on licences  for production of PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, adding that key supplies of the missiles were to arrive in the next few days.

The Patriot is a U.S.-made air defense system. Its PAC-3 interceptor - short for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 - is one of the few Western weapons capable of shooting down the ballistic missiles Russia has increasingly fired at Ukrainian cities.

Zelensky, speaking to reporters after returning from a NATO summit and talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Turkey, also said talks were proceeding with the United States on a "drone deal" or joint drone production.

"I believe this was a productive summit for Ukraine. In the coming days, we’ll receive a package from the United States, and there were also some separate agreements," Zelensky said, referring to securing the PAC-3 interceptors.

"We resolved this issue politically," he said of producing Patriot missiles for Ukraine. "It's now very important that our technical teams, all our representatives from different ministries, representatives of the executive branch, start working on this without delay, so that we can get licences very quickly and start production in Ukraine as soon as possible."

Zelensky has long pleaded for faster supplies of interceptors capable of bringing down Russian ballistic missiles, a need accentuated by recent assaults on the Ukrainian capital and other cities.

Zelensky said no drone deal had yet been signed with Washington, "but there are some documents that have already been signed so that the American side can get from Ukraine various types, different, different kinds that the United States is interested in for testing. And they’re getting them from us."

He said these included "both aerial drones and marine drones, as well as other technological things".

He also said discussions would proceed with Ukraine's European allies on developing a separate anti-missile system with a meeting planned for France in the near future.

The Ukrainian president has improved his relations with Trump through a series of meetings after an encounter last year in the Oval Office descended into a shouting match.

Zelensky told reporters Trump was now "positive about Ukraine".

"We definitely discussed a great many different things, we need to follow up, prepare for diplomacy, and there are a few other things, but all of this is the right direction," he said. "During the meeting he was very constructive." REUTERS