US ambassador to NATO believes agreement on joint production of interceptors for Patriot systems is unlikely before winter
US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said that talks on the joint production of interceptors for Patriot air defence systems with Ukraine and European partners are ongoing, but that an agreement is unlikely to be concluded before this winter.
Source: Whitaker on Fox News, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Whitaker said Washington is exploring opportunities to jointly produce interceptors for Patriot air defence systems with Ukraine and its European partners in order to expand the defence industrial base.
"There are co-production opportunities that we could do with Ukrainians, that we can do with Europeans to increase the industrial base and to support the defence of Ukraine and defence of Europe," he said.
According to the ambassador, talks on the arrangements are ongoing following meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Türkiye, further talks in Kyiv, and Whitaker's meetings with companies that hold the necessary technology.
He stressed that the priority right now is to supply Ukraine with air defence capabilities as quickly as possible ahead of winter.
Quote: "The most important thing right now is that the air defence that Ukraine needs to survive another winter is moved as quickly as possible – whether that's from our allies, who have extra missiles, or whether that's producing more in our own factories."
Details: However, Whitaker stressed that an agreement on producing interceptors for Patriot systems would not be ready by this winter.
"A long-term production deal is not going to be by this winter. So we're going to keep working on it," he said.
Background:
- During the public part of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit on 8 July, the US president said that the US would grant Ukraine the right to manufacture Patriot systems.
- Following the political agreement with Trump on a licence to produce Patriot interceptors, Zelenskyy later said that technical work should begin to bring it into effect.
- However, Trump subsequently said he has not yet decided whether to allow Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, saying the US has to be "very careful" on this issue.
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