President Donald Trump has retreated from an earlier commitment to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. In comments to the Financial Times on Thursday, Trump said he was “not sure” about the licence and that “we’re looking at it,” describing the weapon as “very extraordinary” and adding that “we have to be a little bit careful of who we license to.”

The reversal came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Trump at the White House and publicly stated that Trump had “accepted that he will give us licenses.” Zelensky had called anti-ballistic defence his “number-one priority” during that visit and also met representatives of Lockheed Martin, which builds the PAC-3 interceptors. At a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump had told Zelensky directly: “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots … it’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon.” Later, however, Trump told reporters he “did not agree” to such a transfer and that advanced military technology is “hard to give away.”

Ukraine’s envoy to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, said Kyiv is in discussions with the Pentagon about a licence to produce PAC-3 missiles, but the process could take 12 months to five years. She noted that officials from Patriot maker Raytheon had already visited Ukraine and that Lockheed Martin was working to send a team of experts. Even if the licence were granted, producing the complex and costly system would require several years, according to analysts.

Separately, Zelensky has asked Trump and other US officials to help secure expanded access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network for guiding strikes inside Russian territory, as Kyiv seeks alternative ways to reduce its dependence on Patriot systems. Trump did not commit to the request. Currently, Starlink use is permitted inside Ukraine and Russian-occupied areas but restricted within Russia itself. Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said Ukraine needs long-term Starlink access to make its longer-range and intermediate-range systems “exactly on target.”

The licensing question remains unresolved, with US and Ukrainian teams working on specific solutions. The Senate has advanced a new Russia sanctions package, with a final vote expected next week. Zelensky has continued to press for both additional Patriot systems and the production licence.