Zelenskiy speaks to NATO head on securing interceptors
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about the possibility of securing more air defence interceptors.
“Mark is well-informed about the threats, and we have co-ordinated our efforts regarding countries that possess the necessary missiles and the capability to help,” Zelenskiy wrote in English on social media platform X.
“It is crucial to eliminate all bureaucracy and make the required political decisions.”
After speaking with the Ukrainian leader, Rutte said in a post on X that he is “discussing with allies how we can continue to get Ukraine the air defences they urgently need”.
The United States is pressing ahead with talks on allowing Ukraine to make Patriot interceptor missiles even after US President Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said.
The discussions include an option for Ukraine to build some components for final assembly elsewhere in Europe, the sources added.
Ukraine has been seeking more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot missile and one of the few weapons capable of downing the ballistic missiles Russia has been launching into Ukraine in growing numbers.
Zelenskiy had warned on Saturday that his country had run out of Patriot missiles and that only one of 27 ballistic missiles fired by Russia that day had been shot down.
During a meeting with Zelenskiy in Ankara, Turkey, last month, Trump said the US would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture PAC-3s.
But last week, Trump appeared to reverse course after what two of the sources described as a challenging meeting with Zelenskiy at the White House.
He told reporters that the US had not agreed to letting Ukraine build Patriot missiles and the US must be “very careful about letting somebody build them”.
Zelenskiy’s calls for domestic production of interceptors, needed for the Patriot system, had been largely set aside by the US while the war continued, given security concerns raised by industry executives and US military officials, three of the sources said.
US envoy to NATO Matthew Whitaker is now leading the push to reach an agreement and travelled to Kyiv last month to discuss the issue and assess options with Ukrainian officials and weapons industry executives, the four sources said.
“No order was given to halt the discussions,” one of the sources said, adding that talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others.
The White House declined to comment on the matter.
The options under consideration include building Patriot components in Ukraine and sending them to Germany for final assembly, adding Ukraine to an existing US-European Patriot interceptor program, and allowing Ukraine to build a cheaper version of the PAC-3, according to the four sources.
Whitaker used last month’s visit to Kyiv “to explore collaboration opportunities on battlefield innovations, such as drones, which will benefit the US warfighter,” his spokesperson said, without specifically mentioning the Patriot initiative.
A senior administration official said that the US is “exploring several potential pathways for future defence industrial cooperation with Ukraine,” adding that any agreement must prioritise the security of US technology.
Reuters