Zelensky discussed with Trump the licences to manufacture missiles and air defence systems
During meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with US President Donald Trump the issue of obtaining licenses to manufacture anti-ballistic systems and missiles.
He said this in comments to journalists, hromadske reports.
“We discussed what Ukraine needs. Air defence – everyone recognises this, everyone will help, and the entire G7 will work to strengthen our defences. We discussed both the systems and the missiles. I won’t go into details now, but more details may follow later. I raised this issue; we discussed it with President Trump, and our teams will be working on it. God willing, this time we will succeed in obtaining licences to manufacture the relevant anti-ballistic systems and missiles,” said the president.
Licenses for weapons production
During an online conference with Reuters, Zelensky added that Trump was “positive” about helping Ukraine with missiles and granting licenses for the production of American weapons.
“Production in the US isn’t as large as our needs. We need licences. We have various options. Manufacturing Patriot systems and missiles is difficult; I know this, I’ve had many meetings and discussions with companies, and I’m well versed in this subject. But we still want to increase production if they agree to this. And if President Trump supports this idea. He has been positive so far. And when President Trump is positive, I hope that means ‘yes’,” said Zelensky.
Despite this, he emphasised the importance of finding a European alternative to anti-ballistic weapons.
“From the European side, we really need the world to try to develop European anti-ballistic systems, so that they are strong, and, between us, cheaper. Otherwise, there won’t be enough for us, Europe and the Middle East. I don’t know about Asia, what their needs are. This is an important alternative that we will be working on,” said Zelensky.
«Winter package»
The President of Ukraine discussed the “energy package” for Ukraine with G7 leaders.
“We all understand that additional funds are needed to physically secure our facilities. Diesel, gas, petrol — that is what we need for the winter. If the war is not over by then and there is a shortage, all our partners will support a winter package. I explained in detail what we need — all countries will support us,” said Zelensky.
Reconstruction
France announced that it will help rebuild the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus damaged by the Russian strikes. Zelensky also thanked Switzerland for its initiative to help reconstruct damaged parts of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Accession to the EU
“Speaking of the EU, everyone understands that Ukraine is making progress, despite the war. The entire seven support our EU membership. Both Ursula [von der Leyen] and António [Costa] — everyone acknowledges that we have opened the cluster entirely fairly. And all clusters will be opened. So far, no one sees any obstacles in this process,” said Zelenskyy.
Drone Deal
Zelensky also mentioned that the work on the Drone Deal, a cooperation agreement between Ukraine’s partners on drones, continues.
“Everyone recognises our leadership in supporting the Middle East; thanks to our expertise, we will be striking a major drone deal with Canada. And we are already seeing how our mid-range strikes and long-range sanctions are affecting restrictions on the sale of Russian energy resources. They are facing major problems. Everyone recognises that they need to end this war urgently. Otherwise, aid to Ukraine will intensify,” said the president.
Sanctions against Russia
According to Zelenskyy, all participants at the G7 summit expressed their support for Ukraine and condemned the attacks on civilian infrastructure — in particular on the Lavra — and on civilians.
“I showed some photos of the strikes and fires, and how our guys heroically put out the fires. And everyone condemns it; they really don’t understand the logic of Russia’s leader, they don’t see any willingness on the part of the Russian Federation – above all, Putin doesn’t want to end [the war], but we must force him to,” said Zelensky.
According to Zelensky, putting more pressure on Russia through sanctions was discussed by Canada and the UK.
“I thanked him [UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer]; they offered to target the Russian shadow fleet… and all countries will be working on this, implementing the necessary measures,” said the president.