Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told Newsmax on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's decision to allow Ukraine to begin producing Patriot air defense missiles marks a turning point in the war with Russia.
"Once these things are in production, it will close the gap that Ukraine has in its armed forces right now," Volker said on "American Agenda."
Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. will give a license to Ukraine to manufacture the Patriots to help counter Russian missile attacks.
"We'll give them the right to make Patriots. We'll show them how to do it," Trump said as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Turkey. "I think they can produce them pretty quickly."
The missiles are expensive, in high demand, and take a long time to produce. Zelenskyy has been asking for more of them and, more recently, for a license so that Ukraine can build its own.
Volker predicted that the decision could mark a turning point in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces are "winning on the battlefield," he said. "They're winning on the front lines. They can do long-range, short-range, medium-range drones, counter-drone, electronic warfare. But taking down missiles is hard, and getting these air defense systems to take down incoming ballistic and cruise missiles will be very significant."
Volker said there is no question Russia's leadership got pushed back some by the decision.
"Politically, it's significant because it's a big signal to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin [that] we are not happy with his attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians," Volker said. "And we are going to give Ukraine the means so that those become ineffective as well. That's a big signal right there."
Volker added that it will take time for Ukraine to get its own Patriot missile production underway.
"It's going to take a few months for Ukraine to get the production up. But I think that this is going to be taken very seriously in the Kremlin," Volker said.
Trump told reporters at the NATO summit that both Putin and Zelenskyy want to reach a settlement, meaning that a deal may be within reach.
"I think President Putin wants to see a settlement," Trump said. "And usually that means a settlement."
Trump said he also believes Zelenskyy wants to end the conflict.
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