Trump Approves Transfer of Patriot Missile Production Licenses to Ukraine, Zelensky Says

U.S. President Donald Trump has given final approval for Ukraine to receive licenses to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this in response to questions from journalists on WhatsApp, according to Forbes Ukraine.

Zelensky did not specify when production could begin or which types of missiles would be covered by the license.

According to Zelensky, Trump announced the final decision during their most recent meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“President Trump emphasized this during our latest meeting. There are specific agreements in place, and we are making progress,” Zelensky said.

Washington’s position on the issue had previously changed several times.

On July 31, Trump said that the United States had not yet made a decision on whether to grant Ukraine the license, explaining that Washington needed to be cautious about transferring Patriot technology.

In early September, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that negotiations between Washington and Kyiv over the licenses were still ongoing. He also cautioned that even after approval is granted, setting up new production could take several years.

Ukraine is also holding direct talks with U.S. manufacturers of Patriot missiles.

In July, Zelensky met with representatives of RTX (Raytheon), which produces the PAC-2/GEM-T missile family, and Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of PAC-3 interceptors.

Militarnyi previously reported that following political approval for missile production, the key issue would be the timeline for establishing the necessary production facilities. According to Reuters, launching mass production of components after a licensing agreement is signed could take between three and seven years.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is not relying solely on future domestic production. Kyiv is negotiating regular deliveries of ready-made interceptors and also plans to purchase around 1,000 Patriot missiles using credit financing from the European Union.