Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump permits Kyiv to make Patriot missiles as Moscow fumes at Nato – UK Times

Donald Trump mixed up Volodymyr Zelensky — who was sitting beside him — and Russia’s strongman leader Vladimir Putin when he asked reporters if they had “a question for President Putin,” prompting the room to erupt in laughter, at which point Trump attempted to recover by repeating the prompt and suggesting he’d take the reporter’s question to the Russian leader.

Trump also confused Iran for a long-ago foe Japan when he told reporters that US aircraft carriers had come under fire from Japanese forces during a bilateral meeting with Zelensky.

“We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan. They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour. 111 missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down, pretty much most by patriots, but by other means also,” he said, in a mixed-up remark.

Russia introduced a ban on diesel exports on Wednesday among a raft of measures to support the domestic fuel market after systematic Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries triggered gasoline shortages and price spikes.

Drivers in many regions are facing hours-long lines to refuel as intensifying Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure squeeze supplies of diesel and gasoline.

Deputy prime minister Alexander Novak told a televised government meeting, chaired by president Vladimir Putin, that the fuel situation remained complex and that “it is clear that the current situation at filling stations is causing concern among the public”.

“Today, a ban on diesel fuel exports was introduced, and this will make it possible to increase supplies to the domestic market,” he said, adding that Russia would start importing fuel in July.

The ban will stay in place till 31 July.

Industry sources said last week that Russia had started seaborne imports of gasoline from India.

Senior officials in the US have welcomed Donald Trump’s announcement on allowing Ukraine to make their own Patriot missile interceptors.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, said the meeting in Ankara sent “several important strategic signals” about collaboration between the US ⁠and Ukraine and said she looked forward to turning the signals into concrete decisions.

“We highly value the United States’ continued engagement in advancing a path toward a just and lasting peace,” Stefanishyna said in a statement.

US lawmakers also praised the announcement.

“This is a great decision,” Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said on X.

“The manufacturer is currently not keeping up with the needs, and this will surely help.”

Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut also praised the announcement.

“Enabling Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptors will save civilian lives, strengthen its long-term security, & bolster the arsenal of the democratic world,” he said on X.

President Donald Trump has said the US would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, a huge boost for Kyiv, which has long sought permission to produce the defensive weapons.

Here’s what he has said:

“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving ’em enough,” Trump said at a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in Ankara.

“It’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon.

“We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves too.

“I think they can produce it pretty quickly. Once we explain it, we’ll bring the company here. You work with the company. They have a great ability to produce weapons, pretty complex weapons.

“We have great power over the companies, those companies that make the Patriot.

“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right. I’m sure they will be thrilled,” Trump said.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the interceptor missiles that go in the Patriot system.

Russia denounced Nato’s decisions at a summit in Turkey, saying they could have catastrophic consequences, after the alliance announced military aid to Ukraine and reaffirmed members’ commitment to collective defence.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson ⁠Maria Zakharova said Nato’s priorities remained unchanged.

“The militarisation of the European continent, the focus on building up defence capabilities, preparation for an armed conflict with Russia, and, of course, aid to Ukraine,” she said.

“It is a pity, because if Nato strategists had stopped and thought for a moment, they might not have made such irresponsible decisions that could lead to a catastrophe not just for the alliance, but for the whole world,” Zakharova said in a statement on her ministry’s website.

Nato members at the summit pledged €70bn (£59.7bn) in military assistance to Ukraine for ‌2026.

They reaffirmed their “ironclad commitment” to collective defence under the alliance’s Article 5 pact in a summit declaration and unveiled arms deals worth at least $50bn.

In her comments, Zakharova said “cracks” between ⁠the United States and its Nato partners “have not gone anywhere”.

“Against this backdrop, the Americans do not hide their disappointment with the North Atlantic bloc,” she wrote.

“The issue with Greenland is not being resolved according to the American scenario. There is also resentment that alliance members, as Washington sees it, ‌did not act in a supportive way when the ​United States needed their backing,” she said.

Desperate Russian drivers are converting their cars to LPG as fuel shortages intensify

Russians are flocking to convert their cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) amid nationwide fuel shortages, escalating petrol prices, and long queues at filling stations.

These issues stem from recent Ukrainian attacks on refineries. Egor Popov, whose Moscow-based Garant-Gas company fits equipment for LPG conversions, stated that “demand had multiplied”.

Butane and propane, components of LPG produced during natural gas processing and crude oil refining, are also less emissions-intensive than petrol.

Kyiv is in the “best” position it has been in since the war began and Ukraine’s long distance strikes on Russian oil and military infrastructure have changed US strategic thinking on the war, significantly strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position, Mr Stubb told the Financial Times.

“I think that [all Nato leaders] understand why Ukraine is doing this,” he said, speaking on the eve of the Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara. “Everyone believes that we need to continue to increase the pressure.”

A Russian attack killed four people in Ukraine’s ⁠Black ​Sea port ⁠of Odesa on ⁠Wednesday, a senior official ‌said.

Serhiy Lysak, ‌head of the ⁠city’s military administration, said another six people were injured in the attack, which damaged infrastructure ‌in the port, ​one ‌of ⁠Ukraine’s key ⁠export centres.