Trump says both sides in Ukraine war want a settlement

Published 08 Jul, 2026 07:04pm 2 min read

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will give a license ​to Ukraine for Patriot missiles as he said both Russia ‌and Ukraine want to see the war settled.

“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr ​Zelensky at the NATO summit in Ankara.

Zelensky has repeatedly ​pleaded for the US-made interceptors — the only weapon in Ukraine’s ⁠arsenal that can shoot down ballistic projectiles, whose high velocity ​and steep flight path make them difficult to stop.

He was expected ​to raise the issue with Trump during their meeting.

Trump said both sides in the war would like to see it end, but Russia’s Vladimir Putin ​and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have both been “difficult.”

“We’ve settled a ​lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would ‌be ⁠the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy’s a difficult character,” Trump said, referring to Zelensky, who was sitting next to him.

Zelensky said he wanted to discuss “some very important ​details” with Trump.

“I’m ​sure you will ⁠do everything to stop this war,” he told Trump.

Moscow has stepped up its air war on ​Ukraine in recent months as its ground advances ​have largely ⁠stalled and Ukrainian attacks on its military logistics and oil industry triggered widespread fuel shortages.

Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv again overnight, officials ⁠said ​on Wednesday, a third attack on the ​Ukrainian capital in less than a week exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of US-made air-defence ​interceptors.

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