Zelenskyy Discusses Joint Production of Patriot Missiles with US Defense Firm Raytheon

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with a U.S. defense contractor to begin discussions on the joint production of Patriot missiles, following an agreement reached with U.S. President Donald Trump.

President Zelenskyy announced on social media on the 24th local time that he "met with a Raytheon delegation led by Vice President Joseph D'Antona."

Raytheon is a U.S. defense company that manufactures the Patriot missile system and NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System).

Zelenskyy wrote, "Ukraine is ready to elevate bilateral cooperation to the level of co-producing Patriot interceptor missiles with Raytheon," adding, "This is an issue that was discussed with President Trump in Ankara, and now it is time to put it into action."

Earlier this month, President Zelenskyy met with President Trump at the NATO summit held in Ankara and agreed to obtain a license for Patriot (PAC-3) missiles.

However, some observers note that it will take time for Ukraine to ultimately begin producing Patriot missiles.

While Ukraine has recently been heavily targeting energy facilities in Russia's rear with long-term drones, civilian casualties are mounting due to a shortage of interceptor missiles driven by the Middle East crisis.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, at least 293 civilians were killed and 1,990 injured in Ukraine last month, marking the worst monthly death toll since April 2022.

On this day as well, areas near Kyiv and Slovyansk came under Russian attack, leaving at least 11 civilians dead.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.