Trump: Will Grant Ukraine License to Produce "Patriot" Missiles

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will grant Ukraine a license to produce "Patriot" missiles, adding that both Russia and Ukraine desire an end to the war.

Speaking during a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said: "We will issue you a license to manufacture Patriot missiles. That's awesome. This way, you can't complain that we haven't given them (the Ukrainians) enough support."

Trump added: "This is a defensive weapon, and I prefer such weapons over offensive ones."

Previously, Zelenskyy has repeatedly urged for this U.S.-made air defense system — the only equipment in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of intercepting ballistic missiles; these are extremely difficult to shoot down due to their high speed and steep trajectory.

Trump stated that pressure could be applied to relevant companies to ramp up production of "Patriot" missiles, saying: "We have tremendous influence over these companies — the ones manufacturing the Patriots."

He noted: "We haven't yet notified the company about this, but it will definitely happen. I believe they'll be very eager to do so."

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the interceptor missiles used in the Patriot system. Officials said Wednesday that Russia launched ballistic missiles toward Kyiv overnight — marking the third such attack on Ukraine’s capital within less than a week, exploiting the severe shortage of U.S.-supplied air defense interceptors in Ukraine.

According to data from the Ukrainian Air Force, although Ukraine’s air defenses managed to intercept 139 out of 169 drones during the overnight attacks, they failed once again to shoot down any of the five Russian ballistic missiles used.

Trump claimed that both Russia and Ukraine wish for the conflict to end, but that Putin and Zelenskyy are both "difficult to deal with."

Speaking about Zelenskyy, who sat beside him, Trump said: "We've resolved many wars before, and we thought this one would be the easiest to settle — but Putin is a hard person to deal with, and so is this one."

Zelenskyy said he wanted to discuss "some very important details" with Trump. He told Trump: "I believe you will do everything possible to end this war."

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1870158539379849/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.