Kateryna Hirnyk13:04, 29.07.26
He stressed that Ukraine is ready to share any military technology or experience that the United States needs in exchange for receiving Patriot interceptors.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked US President Donald Trump for an emergency “winter package” of Patriot interceptor missiles to protect against Russian ballistic missiles during a meeting at the White House, Zelensky said in an interview with Axios .
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine expects to receive 300 interceptor missiles by winter, as their reserves in Ukraine are almost exhausted. If this problem is not resolved by winter, Russian missile strikes could destroy Ukrainian power plants, depriving millions of Ukrainians of heating and causing a humanitarian catastrophe, he stressed.
The president also noted that Trump agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to continue working on granting Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missiles. He said that after his visit to the White House, he met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which produce Patriot missiles, to discuss the issue.
However, even if Ukraine receives licenses, it will take from one to five years to produce a large number of missiles, and such a schedule does not suit Ukraine, Zelensky emphasized.
“We needed Patriot yesterday,” he said, adding that Russia uses 30 to 40 ballistic missiles in each major strike on Ukraine, with three to five such attacks occurring every month.
The president also noted that Trump promised to try to help, but made it clear that this would be difficult due to the need for these missiles in a war with Iran.
He stressed that Ukraine is ready to share any military technology or experience that the United States needs in exchange for receiving Patriot interceptors.
Zelensky also added that he and American defense companies discussed the possibility of modifying Ukrainian-made ballistic missiles and converting them into anti-missile interceptors with capabilities similar to Patriot missiles.
“It will be faster and cheaper,” he said.
(C)UNIAN 2026
It seems that the U.S. has a monopoly on the type of interceptors that can take down ballistics.
That would not normally be a problem, but with Krasnov it is a problem.
He stated last year in a rare moment of Ukraine support that they would get Tomahawks, but of course that came to nothing.