NATO pledges 70 billion euros for Ukraine and clears Patriot production
NATO members meeting in Ankara pledged 70 billion euros (about $80 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine for 2026 , with commitments to sustain comparable levels in 2027. President Trump said the United States would grant Ukraine the ability to manufacture Patriot air-defense systems under license — “We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it” — and struck an optimistic tone on peace talks, claiming progress “in the last couple of weeks.”
The Patriot licensing pledge matters more than the headline aid figure. Domestic production would ease Ukraine’s dependence on a stretched US and European supply of interceptors, the scarcest resource in defending its cities against Russian missile and drone barrages. It also marks a shift from Trump, who spent much of the past year pressing Kyiv toward concessions; here he leaned toward Zelenskyy, who secured additional bilateral equipment commitments, including drones, from European governments.
The gap between summit diplomacy and the battlefield stayed visible: Russia kept up strikes during the two-day meeting, with attacks on Kyiv reported to have killed at least three people and wounded 14.