The US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that a deal to jointly produce “Patriot” interceptors is unlikely to be signed before the winter, but he said that negotiations are still ongoing.
He said this on Fox News.
Whitaker clarified that it is more important now to provide Ukraine with air defense means before winter. According to him, this can be done in two ways: either the allies should transfer the missiles they have in excess, or increase missile production at American factories.
The US Ambassador added that there are currently other opportunities for joint production with Ukraine and the EU, and work is also underway on some of these agreements.
- In early July, at the NATO summit in Ankara, the US president announced that Washington would grant Kyiv a license to produce “Patriot” missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that he and US President Donald Trump also discussed licenses during their meeting on July 28.
- On July 23, Zelensky reported that the American defense company Raytheon was ready to jointly produce interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems with Ukraine. However, on July 31, the American president said that the United States should carefully decide whether to grant Ukraine a license to produce “Patriot” missiles.
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