Kyiv needs 5% of American Patriot interceptor missiles to survive the winter and 10% to destroy “all Russian ballistic missiles,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with CNN. According to him, he daily discusses additional supplies with allies and is conducting negotiations, the details of which he cannot disclose.
“This year we have two and a half times fewer interceptors than we had in 2025, and Russia launches twice as many ballistic missiles per month as before,” Zelensky claims.
According to him, Ukraine now has only 1% of the volume of American interceptor missiles that it needs to repel attacks.
“I ask our American partners to sell us 5% of the missiles they have in stock. If the Americans sell us 5% – namely PAC-3 interceptors, nothing else – we will survive the winter and save people's lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will shoot down all Russian ballistic missiles. As of today, I have 1%,” Zelensky noted.
The Ukrainian leader said that he is trying every day to negotiate additional supplies, including discussing with his allies a possible “exchange,” the details of which he did not disclose. He appeals directly to the White House for increased supplies of Patriot missiles, by phone and text messages, and through partners.
“This is what I live every day: how to go from 1% to 5%. I have several months and millions of phone calls. I'm trying to trade something for rockets. I do some things that I can't even talk about. This does not mean that they are outside the law. I just can’t talk about it,” he said.
There is still no clarity as to how the intention voiced by US President Donald Trump to allow Ukraine to independently produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems will be implemented, Zelensky added.
Earlier, Trump, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara (Türkiye), announced his readiness to transfer to Kyiv a license for the production of anti-aircraft missile systems. He suggested that production could be established quickly, and Zelensky in this case would “stop complaining” about the shortage of these weapons.
“I hope I get this permission. Now I have neither 5% nor such agreement. For me, this is a huge challenge, one of the biggest since the very beginning of the war,” he said.
Kyiv has reportedly put forward new proposals as part of the peace process being promoted by the Trump administration. Zelensky refused to disclose details on this matter, but noted that he expects “more active participation from the American side.”
“We need more active participation from the American side in the peace plan. “I’m grateful to President Trump’s team that they want to continue working,” he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, reported that the United States did not convey to Moscow through diplomatic channels the Ukrainian president’s new proposals for resolving the conflict. Deputy head of the Russian department Sergei Ryabkov said that the Russian side knows nothing about them.
