Trump suggests Ukraine could receive a production license for Patriot missiles — but only a “much less advanced” version

U.S. President Donald Trump said that a possible transfer of a production license for missiles for the Patriot air defense system is being discussed with Kyiv — but only for a less advanced modification.

He made the statement to journalists aboard an aircraft.

Trump was responding to a direct question about whether Ukraine would receive licenses for Patriot missiles.

“We’re discussing it… A less advanced version. You know what I mean. Much less advanced,” — the U.S. president said.

Trump also assured that the United States has significant stockpiles of weapons, including Patriot missiles.

“Right now we have very large stockpiles, right now we’re producing more Patriot missiles than ever,” — he emphasized.

Less advanced versions of Patriot interceptor missiles are less effective at shooting down ballistic missiles.

The topic of a license transfer has come up before. Back in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Trump said that Washington could give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. However, the documents were never transferred. Media outlets cited various reasons for the delay; in particular, it was reported that Trump abandoned the idea due to concerns about technology leaking to Russia.