Trump says U.S. will consider licensing missile production for Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington is prepared to consider granting Ukraine a license to manufacture American anti-ballistic missiles, following a request raised by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, UATV English reports.

Speaking to reporters on June 17, Trump said Ukraine’s desire to produce U.S.-designed missiles in Europe would be reviewed.

“They would like to be able to do that. We will look at that issue,” Trump said.

The U.S. president also reiterated that he had held “very good talks” with both Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin and emphasized that he wants the war in Ukraine to come to an end.

At the same time, Trump declined to answer whether he considers Putin more responsible for the conflict.

“Well, I don’t want to comment on that because I’m trying to settle it, and that doesn’t make it easier,” he said.

Trump also said the United States is considering additional sanctions against Russia.

“We are looking at it. We see how sharply oil prices are falling. They are really falling,” he noted.

Earlier, Zelenskyy said Trump had reacted positively to his request for additional missiles for Patriot air defense systems, though no final decision has been publicly confirmed.

“First of all, he was very positive about being able to help us more with missiles. This is really a major challenge because production volumes are not as large as our needs. Production is in the United States,” Zelenskyy said after the meeting.

The Ukrainian president also confirmed that he had raised the issue of production licenses.

“I brought up the issue of licenses. I appealed to President Trump on this matter. We need licenses to produce missiles,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine has already held numerous contacts with defense manufacturers.

The possibility of local production of interceptor missiles was also mentioned by G7 leaders, who said they were prepared to consider licensing arrangements that would allow such systems to be manufactured in Ukraine.