Congressmen pressed Trump on the Patriot license for Ukraine
The U.S. and Ukraine are negotiating the possible transfer of technology to Kyiv for the production of Patriot air defense missile systems. Members of Congress have called on the Donald Trump administration and the Pentagon to expedite a decision on a license for these systems.
Congressman Mike Turner was asked whether the U.S. would allow Ukraine to license the production of Patriot interceptors, as it had previously seemed that a breakthrough had been achieved, but on Friday, Donald Trump stated that transferring such technology would be difficult.
Turner explained that in that statement, the president was referring to both Tomahawks and Patriots, and that negotiations are ongoing. According to him, the situation with the Patriots is more complicated because they are defensive weapons, whereas the Tomahawks are offensive.
“I truly believe that negotiations are underway to provide Ukraine with broader access to Patriot technology so that it can establish production and acquire defense technologies. This will be very important for both our allies and Ukraine,” the congressman said.
According to Turner, defense technologies should be shared in the same way that missile technologies are shared. He emphasized that the U.S. possesses the most advanced technologies, which are in high demand worldwide.
The congressman called the president’s initiative to consider licensing this technology important for Ukraine, for allies, and for the United States itself. Turner urged the president and the Pentagon to act as quickly as possible so that Ukraine can defend itself. He emphasized that people are dying every night in Ukraine because Russia is firing missiles at defenseless civilians rather than military targets.
Source: CBS
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he had not promised Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles. According to him, the transfer of such technology involves security concerns, so he is not certain that this decision will be made at all.
Prior to this, following a one-on-one meeting with Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the U.S. president had agreed to grant Ukraine a license to produce interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense systems.
