The United States is negotiating with Ukraine over licences that would allow Kiev to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, while cautioning that domestic production would not address Ukraine’s immediate air defence needs.
Speaking on Brian Kilmeade’s radio show on Fox News on Wednesday, Rubio said the licensing talks were under way but stressed that building factories capable of producing the sophisticated interceptors would take “multiple years.”
“That’s being negotiated now. That may come to fruition, but it really won’t solve the short-term challenge that they’re pointing to,” Rubio said when asked whether he opposed granting Ukraine the licences.
Kiev seeks greater air defence capacity
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a July visit to Washington that he had discussed licences to manufacture Patriot interceptors with President Donald Trump.
Trump said at the time that Washington should be “very careful” before authorising Ukraine to produce the systems.
Kiev has made strengthening defences against ballistic missiles a top priority as Russia and Ukraine have intensified air strikes in recent months, causing growing civilian casualties.
Rubio said demand for air defence interceptors has surged globally, calling them “the number one defence need on the planet.”
US weighs global demand against its own stockpiles
Rubio said demand has increased not only because of the war in Ukraine but also across the Middle East amid the US-Israeli war against Iran.
“It’s just a question of availability,” he said, adding that the US must ensure its own stockpiles remain sufficient before supplying other countries.
“We have our own defence needs; we have our own defence requirements,” Rubio said.
The availability of weapons, ammunition and missile interceptors has become increasingly critical since the start of the Iran war, adding pressure to already strained global supplies.
