No decision yet on granting Ukraine licenses for Patriot missiles – US State Department
The United States has not yet made a final decision on the production of missiles for Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine.
State Department representative Ian Bateson said this in a comment to DW, Censor.NET reports.
What does the US State Department say?
The State Department representative noted that the issue is still under discussion, despite a second statement by US President Donald Trump expressing his readiness to grant Kyiv such a license.
"Trump did not say it would happen. But he spoke a great deal about the Ukrainian military, and President Zelenskyy and Trump had a good meeting. President Trump spoke of a positive impression — which, as we know, has not always been the case. The fact that he is talking about the Ukrainian military’s successes is, of course, a good sign. But exactly what happens next remains unclear because diplomatic negotiations are taking place right now," Bateson explained.
"Trump is a man of action"
The US State Department urged against viewing the current lack of details about the negotiations as a "bad sign."
Discussing the position of the head of the White House, Bateson added that Trump is "a man of action" and expects action from the parties to the war.
Background
- EU member states received Ukraine’s request to use several billion euros from a loan totaling EUR 90 billion to purchase PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
- Earlier, the European Commission received from Ukraine a list of weapons on which it plans to spend most of the EUR 6 billion remaining in the defense portion of the loan. Most items on the list concern equipment produced in Ukraine and the EU, primarily drones.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had agreed with the US on monthly deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles. He also said there was a shortage: according to him, Ukraine needs to receive at least around 5% of US production of such missiles to get through the winter.
- In August, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needed at least 300 Patriot interceptors to get through the winter and proposed that the US sell Ukraine 5–10% of its reserves: "America could replenish its stocks, and we could make it through the winter."
- On July 31, US President Donald Trump said the United States "must be very careful" when asked about allowing Ukraine to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
