'We don't wear rose-tinted glasses': Kremlin on US Patriot license for Ukraine

Russia on Thursday reacted to US President Donald Trump's decision to grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, saying Moscow was under 'no illusion' about continued American military support for Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the decision was new information for Russia but stressed that Moscow was fully aware that the United States continued to supply weapons to Ukraine. "We know the United States is supplying weapons to Ukraine. We do not wear rose-tinted glasses. The licence is new information for us," Peskov said.

Responding to the development, Peskov added that Russia understood the reality of US military assistance to Ukraine, even as it believed Washington still wanted to help move towards a peace process, Reuters reported. "We do not view the situation through rose-tinted glasses, and President Putin is fully aware of this. At the same time, there is a certain duality in the US position: unlike the Europeans, the United States maintains a desire to facilitate a move toward a peace process. They may be mistaken or wrong at times, but that desire strikes us as sincere," he said.

Peskov also rejected comments by US officials suggesting that allowing deeper Ukrainian strikes inside Russia could help bring the war closer to an end. Speaking at the Nato summit in Turkey on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia was finding it harder to defend its own skies and that this could create more room for negotiations. Trump also described the move as 'an escalation, but it's also an escalation that can help lead to an end.'

Reacting to those remarks, Peskov said there were 'certain misconceptions within the White House administration' about the idea that military escalation could help achieve peace. He warned that such actions would instead prolong the conflict and force Russia to expand what it calls its security buffer zone. "It will result in our having to establish a larger security zone — a larger buffer zone. Consequently, stoking tensions and taking actions that drive escalation will in no way contribute to the peace process," he said.

The Kremlin's comments came a day after Trump announced, following his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Nato summit, that Washington would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors. "We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool. This way, you can't complain that we're not giving 'em enough," Trump said.

The proposal marks a significant shift in US military support by potentially allowing Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptors domestically instead of relying solely on direct deliveries. However, defence experts have said production is unlikely to begin quickly, as Ukraine would first need technology transfers, manufacturing facilities, secure supply chains, certification processes and commercial agreements with US defence companies before any missiles can be produced.