President Donald Trump has said that the United States has not agreed to Ukraine building Patriot missiles but that talks are ongoing, adding that the US must be “very careful about letting somebody build them.”
Trump, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Türkiye this month that he was going to give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors to help defend against Russian strikes, but has since backed away from that pledge despite hosting Zelenskyy at the White House this week.
Asked about the Patriot missiles during a cabinet meeting at the Camp David retreat on Friday, Trump emphasised concerns about sharing advanced US weaponry, including missile technology.
“It’s a big step,” Trump said.
“In the case of President Zelenskyy, he’d like to have some Patriots; he’d like to have some Tomahawks, which are, you know, lethal — one offensive, one defensive,” Trump said.
“You have to be very judicious, but you have to be very careful. Now we have not agreed to that. We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology. And I don’t think this would ever happen, but, you know, there are people that you give that technology to; they can someday turn it on you,” Trump said.
