Trump again suffers a confirmation response to Zelensky's remark that 'Patriots are produced in Ukraine'

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Soo-jin = U.S. CNN reported on the 26th (local time) that U.S. President Donald Trump did not confirm Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's claim that he had permission to produce Patriot missiles, an advanced air defense weapon, in Ukraine.

Ukraine, which has been pushing to expand its air defense capabilities to respond to Russian airstrikes, is emphasizing that it has received a promise from the United States to produce Patriot missiles domestically, but President Trump appears to have once again avoided giving a specific answer on whether he would agree.

In a meeting with reporters at the White House before leaving for Tennessee to watch a college football game, President Trump said, "We talked about a number of topics, and we reached a strong agreement on many of them," in reference to President Zelensky's statement the previous day that "there was a specific agreement" regarding the Patriot manufacturing license agreement.

President Trump then asked, "But do you know what I want from him (President Zelensky)?" and replied, "It's an agreement. I want him to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and President Putin wants to reach an agreement with him."

The day before, President Zelensky told reporters that when he met with President Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, President Trump told him that Ukraine "will receive a license to produce Patriot missiles."

CNN broadcast on this day commented on President Trump's remarks, saying, "He confirmed that he and President Zelenskyy discussed Patriot missiles, but he turned the focus of his answer to urging Ukraine and Russia to reach an agreement to end the conflict."

This is not the first time President Trump has given an ambiguous answer to the issue of Ukrainian production of Patriot missiles.

When President Trump met with President Zelensky during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in July, he announced his intention to authorize local production of Patriot missiles, saying, "One of the things we will discuss today is that we will give them (Ukraine) the authority to build Patriots and tell them how to make them."

However, in an interview with the British Financial Times (FT) held in the same month, President Trump appeared to backtrack from his previously stated position, saying he was "not sure" whether the U.S. government would grant Ukraine a Patriot production license.

The U.S.-made Patriot air defense system plays a key role in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles attacking Ukrainian cities. However, as the war prolongs and demand around the world surges due to the war with Iran, Ukraine is suffering from a serious inventory shortage.

CNN reported that Ukraine, which does not have Patriot missiles, is having difficulty fending off Russia's recent onslaught, and that seven people were killed in a Russian drone attack in Kiev the previous day.