President Donald Trump has said that the United States has not agreed to Ukraine building Patriot missiles but that talks are ongoing, adding that the US must be "very careful about letting somebody build them."
Trump, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Türkiye this month that he was going to give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors to help defend against Russian strikes, but has since backed away from that pledge despite hosting Zelenskyy at the White House this week.
Asked about the Patriot missiles during a cabinet meeting at the Camp David retreat on Friday, Trump emphasised concerns about sharing advanced US weaponry, including missile technology.
"It's a big step," Trump said.
"In the case of President Zelenskyy, he'd like to have some Patriots; he'd like to have some Tomahawks, which are, you know, lethal — one offensive, one defensive," Trump said.
"You have to be very judicious, but you have to be very careful. Now we have not agreed to that. We're talking about it, but it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology. And I don't think this would ever happen, but, you know, there are people that you give that technology to; they can someday turn it on you," Trump said.
As Russia has stepped up its air attacks, Ukraine has run chronically low on supplies of Patriots, which remain the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has long sought a co-production agreement for the Patriot PAC-3 missiles to intercept ballistic missiles, to build them domestically.
Trump's earlier pledge to provide a licence for such a production agreement caught many by surprise, and Ukrainian officials have been meeting with Pentagon officials and industry executives since to work out firmer details.
Those efforts are continuing, but Ukrainian ambassador Olha Stefanishyna on Thursday said she is confident that Lockheed Martin, maker of the PAC-3 missiles, was fully committed to deepening cooperation with Ukraine. Lockheed executives met with Zelenskyy on Tuesday, and the company is planning to send executives to Ukraine soon, she said.
