No licenses, too few missiles: Zelensky is pressuring allies again over Patriots — and the result is zero

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Western allies have not granted Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot air-defense systems—or even to manufacture missiles for the systems that have already been delivered.

In a BBC interview published on February 22, he called air defense “the most difficult issue” and stressed that Kyiv needs, at minimum, the rights to produce interceptor missiles so it is not dependent on irregular supplies.

His remarks came amid warnings of a growing shortage of air-defense ammunition. Earlier, on February 14 at the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky said stocks of interceptor missiles were critically low. Soon after, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed the scale of the problem in an interview with Deutschlandfunk, saying Germany has “virtually exhausted” its own missile reserves for Ukraine and that newly manufactured batches are being sent to the front via European financing schemes. Ukraine’s Air Force has also reported that during some large-scale attacks, NASAMS launchers operated with reduced ammunition loads, and in January Zelensky mentioned cases in which certain air-defense systems were left “without missiles” until emergency shipments arrived.

According to Zelensky, Kyiv proposed setting up missile production in Europe with the United States “several years ago,” considering options both inside Ukraine and jointly with NATO partners in Romania and Poland. He says licensing commitments were discussed, but in the end Washington did not agree to transfer the rights. At the same time, U.S. defense manufacturers are increasing interceptor production: RTX (Raytheon) signed framework agreements with the Pentagon in early February to ramp up output, and Lockheed Martin has said it plans to significantly expand production of PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system—though these volumes are primarily aimed at U.S. needs and existing defense contracts rather than localizing production abroad.

Zelensky again linked the licensing issue to the need to “close the sky” and protect the rear, against the backdrop of ongoing strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Ahead of his address to the European Parliament on February 24, the question of whether allies are ready to move from deliveries and financing to production licensing remains open.