Ukraine to get Patriot production licence, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington would give Ukraine the right to make Patriot air-defence systems, but gave no timeline for the pledge.

Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara that the United States would give Kyiv a licence to make Patriots. He said the company had not yet been informed.

Ukraine has struggled to intercept Russian ballistic missiles because of low stocks of Patriot interceptors. Local officials said Russian missile and drone strikes on Wednesday killed 10 people across Ukraine, including three in Kyiv.

Ukrainian military analyst Sergiy Zgurets said Russia was exploiting Ukraine's low Patriot stockpiles to target Kyiv and exert psychological pressure.

The licence may not quickly address Ukraine's air-defence shortage. The US Foreign Policy Research Institute says producing the air-defence missile can take up to 24 months and producing its engine can take 30 months.

Trump also said Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia could help end the war, while acknowledging they were an escalation.