Zelenskyy and US Envoy Kellogg Hold Talks in Kyiv on Missile Defense
Zelenskyy met US envoy Kellogg in Kyiv to discuss a joint European ballistic missile defense project, as Russia steps up attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, in Kyiv on Saturday. The talks focused on Ukraine's efforts to build a ballistic missile defense capability in cooperation with European partners.
Zelenskyy briefed Kellogg on the initiative, which aims to develop a mass-produced missile defense system. The project comes as Moscow has intensified ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, exploiting a shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors — currently the only system in Ukraine's arsenal capable of shooting down such projectiles.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat noted that Patriots are the sole system able to intercept Russian Iskander-M, S-400, and Zircon missiles. Other US and allied systems, such as THAAD and sea-based Aegis defenses, have not been provided to Ukraine.
Political signals from Washington have been mixed. At a NATO summit in July, President Donald Trump said the US would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriots, but later said no final decision had been made. Even with a license, experts say production would take years.
In response, Ukraine and nine European countries formed a coalition in July to pursue a shared missile-defense capability. Zelenskyy has said a jointly developed system could be mass-produced within 12 months.