The United States has not yet made a final decision on granting Ukraine a licence to manufacture missiles for the Patriot systems. This was confirmed on 23 September by State Department spokesperson Jan Bateson in an interview with DW. According to him, the issue remains the subject of diplomatic negotiations, and public statements following the meeting between the presidents do not imply that authorisation has been granted.
Briefly about the main points
- The US State Department has confirmed that no decision has been made regarding a licence for Ukraine.
- A positive assessment of the meeting between the presidents does not mean that an agreement has been reached.
- Trump spoke of the possibility of discussing missile production with Zelenskyy.
- Ukraine expects the project to get underway in a year or a year and a half.
- The type of missile and the terms of a potential licence have not been publicly specified.
The State Department has warned against jumping to conclusions
Bateson called for the positive statements following the meeting not to be over-interpreted Vladimir Zelensky і Donald Trump as confirmation of a licence that had already been approved. «Trump didn’t say that this would happen,» he emphasised.
A State Department spokesperson described the US President’s positive comments about the Ukrainian army as a good sign. At the same time, he said that the lack of public details regarding the talks was not a negative sign: the parties are discussing the next steps.
Statements by Trump and Zelenskyy following their talks in New York
During a conversation with journalists on 22 September, Trump replied that the production of missiles for the Patriot system in Ukraine was possible and that this issue would be discussed with Zelenskyy. The discussion centred on raising the matter during the talks, rather than on announcing a decision regarding the licence.
Following the meeting, Zelenskyy stated that Trump was in favour of granting licences. The President of Ukraine also expressed the hope that the project could get underway in a year or a year and a half; however, this is the Ukrainian side’s expectation, not an agreed production schedule.
What terms of a possible agreement still need to be finalised
In July, Trump stated that he was prepared to allow Ukraine to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot. He later spoke of the need for a cautious approach and noted that no decision had been taken. In September, the US President suggested that a licence might be granted for a «less advanced» version of the missiles, without specifying which variant he was referring to.
The potential authorisation relates to the production of missiles for the Patriot system, rather than the transfer of finished munitions or the manufacture of the entire air defence missile system. The wording does not specify a particular type of interceptor: the Patriot, for example, uses missiles from the PAC-2 GEM-T and PAC-3 MSE families.
