G7 leaders agreed to send Ukraine more air defense systems and interceptor missiles, and said they are ready to consider licensing Ukraine to build them domestically. The commitment came in the bloc's joint statement on 17 June, the final day of the summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

Ukraine's problem is arithmetic. Russian ballistic and drone strikes outpace the interceptors Washington can supply, and Zelenskyy has spent more than a year asking allies to let Ukraine and Europe produce their own. The statement turns that ask into collective language — but it commits the G7 only to consider it.

What the G7 agreed

The leaders said they would increase deliveries of air defense, additional systems, interceptor missiles, and long-range capabilities, and were ready to consider granting Ukraine licenses to raise its own military output.

"To support and accelerate this new momentum, we agree to increase the delivery of air defence capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities. We are also ready to consider extending to Ukraine the benefit of licenses to allow for an increase in Ukraine's military production," said in the statement.

The statement also pledged support to strengthen Ukraine's energy grid before next winter, and committed the G7 to tighten pressure on Russia's war economy through expanded sanctions on its oil and gas sector.

Why licensing matters more than supply

The licensing ask is not about handouts. It is about capacity. US interceptor lines are stretched across Ukraine, Europe, and the Middle East at once, and more deliveries from a fixed supply do not change that ceiling — domestic and European production does.

Zelenskyy made the case directly to Trump in a bilateral on 16 June, asking for licenses to produce American anti-ballistic systems, including for the Patriot. Trump reacted "positively," Zelenskyy said, and teams from both countries would begin work on the question.

Ukraine has built the parallel track already. Kyiv lined up its first partner in late May to produce interceptors in Europe rather than lean on a shrinking supply of US Patriots, keeping the effort out of reach of outside political bargaining.

What the statement does not do

It does not commit anyone to anything. "Ready to consider" is not a license, and the joint text names no timeline, no system, and no manufacturer. Whether the language becomes hardware on Ukrainian soil is the question Évian left open.

The pressure behind the ask keeps rising. Russia has turned to faster Geran-4 jet drones built to outrun the cheap interceptors Ukraine fields against mass attacks, narrowing the margin Kyiv's air defense has been working to hold.