US presses on with Ukraine Patriot missile talks, despite Trump’s doubts

The U.S. is pressing ahead with talks on allowing Ukraine to make Patriot interceptor missiles, which Kyiv urgently wants to defend against Russian attacks, even after President Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said.



The discussions include an option for Ukraine to build some components for final assembly elsewhere in Europe, the sources added.



Kyiv has been seeking more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot missile and one of the few weapons capable of downing the ballistic missiles Russia has been launching into Ukraine in growing numbers.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiysaid on Wednesday he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about the possibility of securing more air defense interceptors. Zelenskiy had warned on Saturday that his country had run out of Patriot missiles, and that only one of 27 ballistic missiles fired by

Moscow that day had been shot down.