Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the US isn’t producing enough anti-ballistic missile systems and that he has requested a license for Ukraine to start producing Patriot missiles.
“There is not enough anti-ballistic missile production in the United States, and this could lead to a crisis in different parts of the world,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“60–65 anti-ballistic missiles per month, compared to current challenges, is nothing. It is no secret, and Russia knows this. We need to expand the production. I asked the previous US administration, and I am asking today’s administration to give Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missiles,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader said that he sent a letter to Congress and President Trump about the matter. It’s unclear whether he’s referring to a letter he sent to Trump several days ago, in which he pleaded for more US military aid.
In the letter, Zelensky said he appreciated the continued US military aid funded by the US’s NATO allies under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), but that it wasn’t enough. He said the “current pace of deliveries through the PURL program is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”
The US used an enormous number of Patriot missiles and other interceptors during the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, and there were reports at the time that the Pentagon was considering diverting weapons shipments meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, but it’s unclear if that happened.
Zelensky’s renewed plea for more air defenses comes amid a looming threat of a major escalation of Russian strikes on Kyiv, which Russian officials say will happen in response to Ukrainian drone attacks killing civilians, including a Ukrainian drone attack that hit a college in Luhansk and killed 21 civilians. While Russia and Ukraine have traded heavy attacks in recent days, there’s no sign yet that Russia has gone ahead with the escalation in strikes on the Russian capital.
