President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. would grant Ukraine access to produce Patriot air defence interceptors. Mr Trump made the remark on the second day of the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, during his meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The American president stated that the U.S. would teach Ukraine how to produce the system despite its complexity.

“We’re going to give a license to you to make patriots. That’s pretty cool. We’ll show them how to do it. It is very complex, actually, but you will figure out the complexity quickly,” Mr Trump said. “This way, he can’t complain that we’re not giving him enough. I said, ‘Make them yourself.”

Mr Trump, however, disclosed that the company manufacturing the Patriot system had not been informed of the plan and that the U.S. did not have enough interceptors to provide Ukraine upfront while the Eastern European country’s production was underway.

“We have patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves, too,” Mr Trump stated.

Earlier, Mr Zelensky had expressed concern over the shortage of air defence missiles. He noted that the demand for U.S. Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East had far exceeded current production capacity.

Mr Zelensky’s demand for the interceptor missiles followed Russia’s launch of ballistic missiles and drone swarms against the country amid the shortfall. He stated that the attacks by Russian forces overwhelmed Ukraine’s air defences and also resulted in the deaths of many civilians.

“We need to find a way to get as quick as possible, as much as possible, missiles for Patriot systems. This is the most important thing,” Mr Zelensky said. “We all value the patriot system. It is an excellent system. But today’s wars have shown current patriot production is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles. That is a fact.”