'We have not agreed to that' — Trump walks back promise of Patriot licenses for Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 31 that the White House had not made a final decision on granting Kyiv licenses to produce Patriot air defense missiles.

"We have not agreed to that. We're talking about it, but it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology," Trump said in a Cabinet meeting at his Camp David retreat.

Trump's comments walk back his earlier statements about granting Ukraine a license to produce its own Patriot interceptors, the only weapons system that can reliably defend against Russian ballistic missile strikes.

The latest remarks also contradict claims by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said following a meeting with Trump at the White House on July 28 that the U.S. leader had "accepted that he will give us licenses (for Patriots)."  

But speaking to members of his Cabinet and the press on July 31, Trump was hesitant on the issue, calling it a "big step" and emphasizing that the government had to be careful about divulging the secrets of American defense tech.

"These weapons are incredible," he said. "We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them. ... I don't think this would ever happen, but you know those people that you give that technology, they can someday turn on you. You know, that is possible."

Trump's response to the question about granting Kyiv a production license included several digressions, including the efficacy of Patriots in intercepting Iranian missiles in the Middle East ("They were big missiles, and they were shot at Jordan, and our guys were there: bing, bing, bing, bing, bing") and his administration's supply of Javelins to Ukraine in 2017 ("Without the Javelins, that war would have been a one-day war").

The president later told reporters that he shared these concerns with Zelensky during his recent visit.

"I spoke about Patriots, I spoke to him about Tomahawks, spoke to him about everything," he said. "I also spoke to him about, 'let's get this war over with.'"

Trump then said that both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin would "have to make some concessions" in order to reach a peace deal.

Currently, Japan and Germany are the only countries that hold licenses to produce Patriot missiles outside the U.S. But as Russia has escalated the frequency and intensity of its ballistic missile barrages on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv has pleaded with international partners to help solve its urgent air defense crisis.

Zelensky sent a personal appeal to Trump in late May, urging the U.S. to supply critically needed defensive weapons following a deadly Russian attack on Kyiv.  

"I, on behalf of the Ukrainian people, respectfully ask the president and the U.S. Congress...to help us secure this vital tool of protection against Russian terror — Patriot missiles PAC-3 and additional systems — to stop Russian ballistic missiles and other Russian missile attacks," he wrote in the letter.

Speaking alongside Zelensky at the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, Trump said the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles.

"We are gonna give a license to you to make Patriots... This way you can't complain that we are not giving you enough," he said.

While Trump has adopted a warmer tone towards Zelensky in recent weeks, as Kyiv's long-range strike campaign has pummeled Russian oil and logistics infrastructure, Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that the latest White House meeting secured few concrete wins for Ukraine.

The main outcome of the trip appears to be convincing Trump's envoys to finally visit Kyiv, instead of a clear answer on Patriots.

During his visit to the U.S., Zelensky also met with officials from the defense firm Lockheed Martin, saying their teams discussed "specific solutions to expedite the transition to joint production." He previously announced on July 23 that Ukraine would co-produce Patriot interceptors with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon.

Still, neither Kyiv nor Washington have presented a clear timeline regarding Patriot production.

On the same day that Trump told Cabinet members he had not committed to issuing the production license, Zelensky spoke over the phone with U.S. Vice President JD Vance about Kyiv's air defense needs. Zelensky said it was a "productive" conversation.