US President Donald Trump plans to ask American defence companies to manufacture weapons under licence in Europe and Ukraine, according to Bloomberg, citing officials familiar with the talks.
According to the publication, Ukraine needs air defence systems, in particular interceptor missiles to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, which only the US can produce. However, as the United States has exhausted its stockpiles in Iran and it would take time to ramp up production, Trump told allies that he would consider licensing options, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They would like to be able to do this, and we will look into the matter,” Trump told reporters on 16 June at the Group of Seven summit in Evian, France.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the closing press conference following the G7 summit, confirmed that Trump “insisted on mobilising the US defence industry and the capacity to supply such equipment”.
“The specific licences in question will be discussed in detail among the participating countries,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters on 17 June.
Following the summit in France, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) announced that they plan to increase the supply of air defence capabilities to Ukraine, additional systems and interceptor missiles, and also expressed their willingness to consider extending licences to Ukraine to allow for an increase in military production. This was stated in a joint statement by the leaders, released on 17 June.
On 16 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists that strengthening Ukraine’s air defence was one of the key focuses of the G7 summit talks. “Absolutely all” of the G7 “will work to strengthen our defences. We discussed both systems and missiles,” he said, without going into detail.
At the same time, he added that he had spoken with US President Donald Trump about the possibility of Ukraine producing equipment to counter ballistic missile strikes:
“I raised the issue – we discussed this with President Trump – our teams will be working on it; God willing, this time we will manage to obtain licences to produce the relevant anti-ballistic systems and missiles.”
Last month, the President of Ukraine sent a letter to the US President and Congress, in which he reported on the growing shortage of air defence systems for shooting down missiles, in particular, systems to counter ballistic missiles, against the backdrop of threats from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In particular, according to media reports, the letter notes that “when it comes to defence against ballistic missiles, we rely almost exclusively on the United States.” This refers to PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot systems.
Senior Republican Congressman Joe Wilson told Radio Free Europe on 27 May that Ukraine remains a key partner in confronting common adversaries. “Air defence saves lives, and Ukraine is a proven partner in the fight against terrorism,” said Wilson.