Zelenskyy says he's in talks with US company to jointly produce Patriot air defenses

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has met in Kyiv with senior representatives of Raytheon, the U.S. company that makes the Patriot air defense systems Ukraine desperately needs to counter the ballistic missiles Russia uses to advance its invasion.The meeting came less than three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriots. The pledge marked an important shift as Trump recently has adopted a more positive tone towards Zelenskyy.In another sign that Ukraine is changing minds in Washington, ardent Trump ally Laura Loomer met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday. After years of minimizing the invasion, she rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin for missile attacks on Ukraine.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 ...