Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on July 28, 2026. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has not decided whether he would allow Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles amid its war with Russia.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the American president said he was “not sure” about granting Kyiv a license to produce missile systems and was still looking into the matter.
“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and … we have to be a little bit careful of who we license to. We don’t really license equipment,” Trump said.
The remarks came days after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and discussed the war as well as the missile systems.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy wrote that he had a “good meeting with” Trump at the Oval Office and that the two discussed “licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help.”
“We also spoke about diplomacy—it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated. Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication,” Zelenskyy added. “I am grateful to the United States for its firm support.”
Patriot missiles remain a key part of Ukraine’s missile-defense systems. They are manufactured by prominent U.S. defense companies Lockheed Martin and RTX, formerly called Raytheon.
Trump told the Financial Times that he wants the Ukraine–Russia war to end, which was a key foreign policy promise that he made during his 2024 campaign.
“Very simply put, we want the war in Ukraine with Russia ended,” Trump said. “I’m not looking for missiles. We’re looking for peace.”
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy had warned that Russia has been aiding Iran as the war persists by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appear in Iran. The Ukrainian president also asserted that there was a “clear correlation” between Russia’s images and subsequent Iranian strikes.
Iran has long been a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and has helped Moscow build up its drone expertise. But on Monday, Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran.
“I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he made a trip to Michigan. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.”
Also this month, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces launched an attack against a ship in the Caspian Sea that he said was providing aid to Tehran, prompting warnings from several Iranian officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X on Sunday that Zelenskyy allegedly “has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor,” adding that it was “done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.” He also said that the Ukraine incident “cannot go unanswered,” without providing more details.
Zelenskyy’s request and Trump’s comment also come as Ukraine’s military launched attacks and hit two of Russia’s largest oil refineries on Wednesday, as Kyiv has kept up economic pressure on Moscow.
Ukrainian forces hit two of Russia’s biggest oil refineries overnight in their latest long-range strikes, officials said on Wednesday, as Kyiv deepened its economic, military and diplomatic pressure on Moscow, according to the Ukrainian media outlet The Kyiv Independent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
