Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 17 February that the United States had once promised Europe licenses to produce air defense missiles — including for Patriot systems — but ultimately did not follow through, slowing what he described as a critical buildup of continental defense capacity.
Speaking in his nightly video address on 17 February, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had raised the issue of European missile production with Washington "several years ago," proposing manufacturing in Ukraine itself or jointly with NATO partners. "There were promises of licenses, but America ultimately did not go along with it," he said. "Although we proposed production both in Ukraine and jointly with NATO partners in the region — with Romania, with Poland, and so on."
Zelenskyy framed the missed opportunity in concrete terms: those decisions and production lines "could definitely have strengthened all of us, all of Europe."
The remarks came after Zelenskyy met with Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, during which, according to the president, they mapped out priorities for partner engagement and stable supply chains, with several negotiations and meetings planned for the coming weeks.
Among those priorities, Zelenskyy said, is pushing for expanded European missile manufacturing. "We will talk about the fact that Europe needs its own production of air defense missiles — all types of missiles that are actually needed," he said, acknowledging that some steps are already underway. "There are already certain steps: building up production, expansion. But the pace of this work is still insufficient. The potential production volumes also deserve to be increased."
The urgency of the issue is underscored by the state of allied stockpiles. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said his country has nearly exhausted the air defense missile reserves it was able to transfer to Ukraine. Former CIA Director General David Petraeus, in an interview with NV, said Europe is working on additional production of air defense systems similar to the American Patriot — though without specifying timelines or volumes.
The supply gap has already had operational consequences. Ukraine's Air Force spokesman said that during some mass Russian attacks, NASAMS launchers were operating with as few as two missiles instead of the standard six.
Zelenskyy said he remained confident that European countries would eventually secure sufficient defense capacity, but added: "It would have been much better for everyone if such a result had been achieved faster."
