Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump said he will allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, a key weapon in repelling Russian attacks. “We will give a licence to you,” Trump said, sitting alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in Ankara. “We’ll show them how to do it.”Ukraine says it is in desperate need of additional Patriot missiles to defend itself. But global stockpiles have run low, leading Kyiv to ask for the right to produce the US-made weapon itself.Trump said pressure could be applied to companies to produce Patriot missiles. “We have great power over the companies, those companies that make the Patriot,” he said. “We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right. I’m sure they will be thrilled,” he said. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the interceptor missiles that go in the Patriot system.Zelensky arrived at this year’s Nato summit emboldened as missile and drone strikes targeting Russian supply routes deep behind the front line and in occupied Crimea have bolstered Ukraine’s morale. Putin is also facing difficulties at home after Ukrainian strikes on key oil refineries led to a nationwide gas-supply crunch. Still, Russian troops continue to advance in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and Zelensky has pressed allies for more missile interceptors to repel missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. Currently, the US is the only country that can produce the interceptors Ukraine is seeking. Trump spoke to Zelensky and Putin in calls over the weekend and a Kremlin aide said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would continue their efforts at mediating a settlement. Agencies
