Zelenskyy urges urgent efforts in Ukraine to start production of Patriot | Story

US President Donald Trump gave his blessing earlier this week to Ukraine’s domestic arms production project.

Ukraine should work to start domestic production of the much-needed Patriot interceptor as soon as possible, as Washington has agreed to give Kyiv the necessary licenses, President Volodymyr ⁠Zelenskyy has said.

Speaking to the press on Thursday after returning to the NATO meeting this week in Turkey, Zelenskyy said that the political approval was found for the US President Donald Trump when they met in Ankara and the problem now was to act quickly to start making it.

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“We resolved the issue politically,” he said. “It is important now that our technical teams, all our representatives from different ministries, representatives of the main branch, start working without delay, so that we can quickly get licenses and start production in Ukraine as soon as possible.”

Although Kyiv has received regular donations of Patriot weapons from its allies to defend itself against Russian aggression, international supplies are running low, and Ukraine is using interceptors faster than the US can make them.

Zelenskyy has been pressuring the US to allow Ukraine to start producing its own missiles to overcome the lack of supplies.

At a joint press conference with Zelenskyy in Ankara on Wednesday, Trump told him: “We’re going to give you permission to build the Patriots. That way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.”

The Patriot is an anti-aircraft missile designed by the US. Its PAC-3 missile – short for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 – is one of the few Western missiles capable of intercepting the surface-to-air missiles that Russia has fired in large numbers at Ukrainian cities.

Zelenskyy said that his meeting with Trump had been successful, and he also agreed with European institutions.

“I believe that this was a beneficial meeting for Ukraine. In the coming days, we will receive a package from the United States, and there were also separate agreements,” he said, referring to the acquisition of PAC-3 interceptors.

“President Trump has repeatedly emphasized that today, only two or three countries in the world can produce Patriots, because the others are not technically ready. Ukraine is recognized by America as a country that is ready to do this,” said Zelenskyy.

“Now, after we agree with the president, our teams, our ambassadors, the ministries of foreign affairs and the ministries of defense have to agree on all the remaining technologies. Once we complete the agreements, we will be able to quickly build the Patriot.”

Building the Patriot will take months

However, Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, warned that the deployment of domestic mobile, airborne and air defense systems would take months.

On his Telegraph channel, Beskrestnov said that the production license comes with technical documentation, expert training, contacts with suppliers and external consultants to help start production.

The main obstacle would be time, not the ability of Ukraine or the organization, he said, because of the difficulties, including the length of time for the production of some low-cost components, which can take 12 to 24 months.

At the NATO summit, Trump praised Zelenskyy for doing an “amazing job”, a sharp change in tone from previous criticisms of the Ukrainian leader.

Trump insisted that he was determined to lead a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

“It’s not an easy thing; it’s not an easy thing,” the president of the United States said about establishing peace. “There’s a lot of commitment, and there’s a lot of international love and everything else. But I think we’ve made a lot of progress in the last few weeks.”