President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has discussed Patriot missile transfers and production, as well as Ukraine’s “Drone Deal” proposal, with US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Zelensky said Whitaker was accompanied by US Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, the commander of NATO Security Assistance & Training for Ukraine.
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In his X update, Zelensky said the parties “had a good talk,” with the discussions centering on the transfer of US-made Patriot air defense missiles via NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program, in which Kyiv’s allies bankroll US weaponry for the country.
“We had a good talk – first and foremost on how to protect Ukrainian skies with more Patriot interceptor supplies through PURL. This is a critical priority now, as massive Russian attacks continue unabated,” Zelensky said.
Russia attacked Kyiv over the weekend with around 40 ballistic missiles, with estimates suggesting that the missiles launched in July thus far had exceeded Moscow’s known monthly production number.
As for the Patriot’s licensed production in Ukraine, Zelensky said the parties had a discussion about it without going into details.
US President Donald Trump announced the plan on July 8 during the NATO summit in Ankara for Kyiv to make the latest-generation PAC-3 Patriot missiles, making it the only country outside of the US to be granted the license to do so after Japan.
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The timeline remains uncertain, however, with reports suggesting that production is likely to be hosted by Germany or another European country before moving to Ukraine.
Germany is currently among the few countries producing the older PAC-2 missiles – including some destined for Ukraine.
Drone deal “very close”
As for the Drone Deal, Zelensky hinted at progress and said he wishes it would be “finalized soon.”
“I think we’re very close. We already signed one document – it’s a big step forward,” Zelensky said.
According to Radio Liberty, the deal signed would pave the way for official testing of Ukrainian drones by the US, with around 100 drones each from 6 Ukrainian manufacturers heading to the US.
In early July, Ukrainian arms maker F-Drones announced its first shipment of 2,000 F10 strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the US under a Pentagon contract.
The Drone Deal is a Ukrainian initiative to export and scale drone production with other countries in exchange for other military support. Kyiv signed the deal with a number of Middle Eastern countries in April after the war in Iran broke out, as well as some of its European allies, such as its ninth drone deal signed with Denmark earlier in July.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Zelensky said he also presented Buzzard with the Order “For Merit,” III class.
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