U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States will grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, a potentially significant step that could help Kyiv strengthen its air defences against Russia.
Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit, Trump said the move would allow Ukraine to manufacture the U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles domestically.
"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.
He described the Patriot system as a defensive capability, adding: "It's a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon."
Zelenskyy has repeatedly urged Washington to provide more Patriot interceptors. They remain the only weapons in Ukraine's arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept because of their speed and flight path.
Trump also suggested the U.S. government could encourage defence companies to increase production.
"We have great power over the companies, those companies that make the Patriot," he said.
He added: "We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. I'm sure they will be thrilled."
U.S. defence company Lockheed Martin is the main contractor responsible for producing the interceptor missiles used in the Patriot system.
The announcement came as Russia launched another overnight missile and drone attack on Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said it was the third ballistic missile strike on the capital in less than a week, highlighting the country's continuing shortage of Patriot interceptors.
According to Ukraine's air force, air defences shot down 139 of the 169 drones launched overnight. However, none of the five ballistic missiles fired by Russia were intercepted.
Trump also said he believed both Moscow and Kyiv wanted to bring the war to an end, although he described negotiations as challenging.
"We've settled a lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy's a difficult character," Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy, who was sitting beside him.
Zelenskyy said he planned to discuss "some very important details" with Trump during their meeting.
"I'm sure you will do everything to stop this war," he told the U.S. president.
Russia has intensified its aerial campaign against Ukraine in recent months, even as fighting along parts of the frontline has slowed. At the same time, Ukrainian strikes on Russian military logistics and oil facilities have increased pressure on Moscow's war effort.
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks while the United States continues to work towards what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to a strategic level in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday (12 November).
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than 24,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on treason charges, after prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops more than a thousand migrants who are walking north towards the United States, warning that they will be denied entry.
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