Trump Grants Ukraine Authority to Operate Patriot Defenses at Fractious NATO Summit

At a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump said the United States would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture the Patriot air-defense system, a step beyond the authority to operate the batteries that Kyiv had previously sought, even as he assailed alliance partners for refusing to join his military campaign against Iran, The New York Times reported. Trump said neither Lockheed Martin nor RTX Corporation, the two companies that build the system, had yet been informed, CBS News reported. He praised NATO's "unity" shortly after criticizing its members, an abrupt shift that reflected the strained mood of the gathering, and closed the summit on a more positive note after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling reporters that a deal to end the war "was on the horizon" and that Washington would work on a security package for Kyiv, NPR reported.

The Patriot decision addresses Ukraine's most persistent request, better protection against Russian missiles and drones. Russian state media offered a starkly different frame, with RIA Novosti highlighting American commentary describing the situation on the ground for Ukraine as a "terrible result," part of Moscow's effort to portray Western support as failing.

The two accounts present opposing pictures. Western reporting presents renewed US backing for Kyiv, while Russian outlets present a war that favors Moscow regardless of new weapons. Neither claim about the battlefield can be independently verified from the summit itself.

The underlying tension is structural. Washington is pressing Europe to take on more of its own defense even as it provides only selective support, which leaves European governments planning for a future with less certain American protection.