Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held talks in Kyiv with senior representatives of Raytheon, the US manufacturer of the Patriot air defense systems Ukraine has long sought to counter Russian ballistic missile strikes, in a move toward joint production of interceptors.
The meeting took place less than three weeks after US President Donald Trump pledged to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriots, a shift that accompanied a warmer tone from Washington toward Kyiv.
“Our teams — both at the government level and from the private sector — will stay in close touch to work it out,” Zelensky said on social media, adding that the company was ready to jointly produce Patriot interceptors with Ukraine.
The Patriot system combines radars, command-and-control units and several types of interceptor missiles. Ukraine has for years pressed Western partners for faster and larger deliveries, arguing that domestic large-scale production is vital to sustaining its defenses.
A day after the meeting, a Russian ballistic missile strike on Friday hit a site in the Kyiv region where a defense industry event was being held, killing 10 people and injuring almost 100 others, Ukrainian officials and industry representatives said. Raytheon did not immediately respond to inquiries about the meeting or whether any of its staff were present at the struck site.
The timing underscored the stakes behind Kyiv’s push for expanded air defenses, as Russia continues to launch ballistic missiles that are difficult to intercept and frequently cause civilian casualties and widespread damage to residential areas.
The Raytheon discussions come amid a series of high-level contacts between Ukrainian and American figures. Laura Loomer, a prominent Trump ally who had long minimized the invasion, met with Zelensky in Kyiv and publicly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin over missile attacks.
The engagement follows earlier diplomatic efforts, including US-brokered talks held in Abu Dhabi aimed at halting the fighting even as attacks intensified.
Zelensky has said he wants to move quickly on a coproduction agreement. While specific terms remain to be finalized, the discussions signal a potential deepening of defense-industrial cooperation between Kyiv and Washington that could reshape Ukraine’s ability to defend its skies in the months ahead.