Not all is lost just yet? The US and Ukraine are talking about producing Patriot missiles

Regarding Patriot missile production outside the United States, we have recently witnessed a real rollercoaster of developments. As recently as early July, during a conference organised on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, US President Donald Trump unexpectedly declared that the United States would grant Ukraine licences to produce these missiles. Now, the American president is gradually backtracking on these declarations. “This is a very unique weapon, and we have to be a bit careful about whom we give the licence to,” Trump said recently.

As it turns out, however, the doubts expressed by the American president do not signify the total failure of the described initiative. Discussions regarding PAC-3 between Washington and Kyiv are still ongoing, although the plan to grant a full licence and produce entire effectors in Ukraine is now rather unlikely.

“No order has been issued to halt the talks,” Reuters has learned. Furthermore, the US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, is set to lead the Patriot discussions today.

As of today, the most likely solution will be a “hybrid” option. According to Reuters, this would involve allowing Ukraine to partially produce certain PAC-3 components, while the final assembly of the anti-missile defence system missiles would take place in a European country – likely Germany.

Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing negotiations, there is still a very long way to go before Patriot production is launched in Ukraine, for many reasons.