Ukraine War31 July, 20262 min read
Donald Trump Backtracks on Promise to Let Ukraine Manufacture Patriot Interceptors at Camp David
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Trump says the US has not agreed to grant Ukraine Patriot missile licenses. Remarks were made at Camp David in a Cabinet meeting, framing the transfer as risky.
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Backtrack at Camp David
Donald Trump backed off a promise to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defense interceptors, telling reporters at a cabinet meeting at Camp David that "We have not agreed to that." Trump said the technology transfer was "a hard thing to give away that kind of technology" as he warned that "People that you give that technology, they can some day turn on you."
The reversal came after Trump had told Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a Nato summit in Turkey that "We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots," and after Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Trump agreed to provide the license. ABC News reported Trump gathered his top officials at Camp David and said, "We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them," while also saying the US and Ukraine are still "talking about it."
Zelenskyy, Vance, and Lockheed
Zelenskyy contradicted Trump’s latest stance, telling Fox News that "He accepted that he will give us licences," after the Ukrainian president met Trump at the White House earlier this week. Zelenskyy also posted on X that he received a "good meeting" and that "air defence – specifically Patriot interceptors against ballistic missiles – remains a top priority," following a call with Vice President JD Vance.
Trump, meanwhile, said he spoke to Zelenskyy about "let's get this war over with" and argued that "they're both going to have to make some concessions" to end the yearslong war that started when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The BBC reported Zelenskyy met with leaders from Lockheed Martin, which produces Patriots, and that Zelenskyy said on X that he had had a "good" phone call with JD Vance as the two agreed to "stay in touch and work through everything discussed today."
What’s at stake next
The dispute over Patriot production comes as Ukraine seeks to defend against Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks, with the BBC noting that the Patriot is one of the few air defence systems able to intercept ballistic missiles. The BBC said Ukraine’s air force has reported that a shortage of interceptor missiles is hampering attempts to shoot down ballistic missiles fired by Russia, and it quoted Zelenskyy writing that air defence remains a "top priority."
In parallel, the Guardian reported that Trump said Washington would be "building many plants" to produce Patriots and Tomahawk missiles domestically, but "just not, for now, in Ukraine." The BBC also reported that Trump told the Financial Times he was "not sure" about letting Ukraine build Patriot missiles, while the BBC said Zelenskyy previously condemned a Russian missile attack that killed five members of the same family after Russia launched more than 70 missiles and over 280 drones.