Zelensky holds talks with US firm to jointly produce Patriot air defence systems

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading for more and quicker Patriot deliveries from western partners (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has held a meeting in Kyiv with senior representatives of Raytheon, the US company that makes the Patriot air defence systems Ukraine desperately needs to counter the ballistic missiles Russia uses to advance its invasion.

The meeting came less than three weeks after US President Donald Trump vowed to give Ukraine a licence to produce Patriots.

The pledge marked an important shift as Mr Trump recently has adopted a more positive tone towards Mr Zelensky.

In another sign that Ukraine is changing minds in Washington, ardent Trump ally Laura Loomer met Mr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday. After years of minimising the invasion, she rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin for missile attacks on Ukraine.

Smoke billows into the sky following Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses of Russia’s Wildberries, in St Petersburg (UGC via AP)

The Ukrainian leader said late Thursday he met with a Raytheon delegation, adding that the company was ready to jointly produce Patriot interceptors with Ukraine.

The system is made up of radars, command-and-control systems and different types of interceptor missiles.

The company made no immediate comment about the meeting on its website or social media accounts.

“Our teams — both at the government level and from the private sector — will stay in close touch to work (it) out,” Mr Zelensky said on social media.

Mr Zelenskyy is keen to move quickly on a co-production agreement as Russia relentlessly fires ballistic missiles that are hard to stop and cause civilian casualties as well as inflicting huge damage on civilian areas.

Mr Zelensky has for several years been pleading for more and quicker Patriot deliveries from western partners. Ukraine has developed its own innovative air defences but large-scale production is vital.

Even so, experts and Kyiv officials have cautioned that setting up production in Ukraine would likely take years.

Mr Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength in the war as the US engaged under Mr Trump in a diplomatic push to end the war that has produced no results so far.

But since it first attack its neighbour in 2014, Russia has captured only around 20% of the country.

Now, the Russian army’s advance is stalling due to Ukraine’s successful front line and mid- and long-range attacks using cutting-edge drone technology it has developed at home and that is now coveted by other countries, western officials and analysts say.

Ukraine has expanded its campaign of disruption with bigger and increasingly frequent drone attacks inside Russia that are hitting high-profile targets, causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Mr Putin.

Ukrainian forces again targeted the logistical hubs of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer that is often compared to Amazon, the company’s founder said on Friday.

Wildberries logistical facilities in St Petersburg, the adjacent Leningrad region and in Simferopol in illegally annexed Crimea came under attack, founder Tatyana Kim said.

Photos and videos published by Russian media showed massive plumes of smoke rising over St Petersburg.

Ukraine in recent days struck four other Wildberries warehouses across Russia, sparking massive fires.

Kyiv officials want ordinary Russians to feel the consequences of the war and question whether Mr Putin can keep them safe. The almost daily attacks have caused consternation in Russia.

Ukrainian long-range weapons hit an oil facility nearly 840 miles from the Ukrainian border as well as a military plant, Mr Zelensky said on Friday.

The Russian Defence Ministry reported on Friday morning that its air defences shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight.