'Make them yourself': Trump gives Zelensky green light to produce Patriot missiles

Editor's note: this is a developing story and is being updated.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 8 that he will grant Ukraine its longstanding request to produce American Patriot missiles, the West's only tool capable of stopping Russian ballistic missile attacks.

Patriot missiles have played a key role in Ukraine's defenses, when Kyiv has been able to procure them in sufficient quantities.

But in a world where Ukraine needs the missiles to protect against Russia and the Middle East needs them to defend against Iran, American production has failed to scale up to meet that demand.

Moscow has taken advantage of that situation, repeatedly launching ballistic missile attacks against civilians in Kyiv.

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"We are gonna give a license to you to make Patriots... This way you can't complain that we are not giving you enough," Trump said during a press conference at the NATO Summit in Turkey.

While Trump later expressed confidence that Ukraine could produce the missiles quickly, he also said he had not coordinated with the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, ahead of the announcement.