President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday that he would grant Kyiv a license to manufacture its own Patriot air-defense missiles, joking, “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.”

“One of the things I think we’re going to be talking about today, a little birdie told me this, about the fact that we’ll give them the right to make Patriots,” Trump said ahead of his closed-door meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey.

Patriot missiles have long been in short supply, and Ukraine’s stockpile has now grown critically low, forcing Kyiv in recent days to allow Russian missiles to strike the capital without interception. On Sunday alone, Russia fired a barrage of 23 missiles at Ukraine, none of which were intercepted due to the shortage, according to Ukrainian officials. At least 22 people were killed and 56 injured in those strikes.

Trump estimated that Ukraine could be up and running with domestic Patriot production by the fall. “We’ll show them how to do it. It’s very complex, actually, but it’s — you’ll figure out the complexity quickly, and we’re talking about that,” he said, adding that the American company that manufactures the missiles is currently building four plants and that “all of our companies will be able to do this in two to three months.”

The president also reflected on his improved relationship with Zelensky, referencing their contentious Oval Office meeting in February 2025, during which Trump told the Ukrainian leader he didn’t “have the cards.” Speaking Wednesday, Trump said, “We’ve actually developed a good relationship! Hard to believe, right? From the Oval Office to now.”

The war has pushed Ukraine to rapidly expand its own defense industry, which is now capable of producing long-range missiles and drones able to strike deep into Russian territory. Kyiv has long sought a license to produce Patriot missiles domestically amid the global shortage and reportedly feels confident it can scale up production quickly once the necessary approvals are finalized.