France, Germany, Italy, Poland to develop new long-range cruise missiles

France, Germany, Italy, and Poland announced on July 11 that they agreed to develop ground-launched cruise missiles with a range beyond 500 kilometers (around 310 miles), Reuters reported.

Several states have been ramping up their defense production amid rising tensions with Russia and Ukraine's growing needs.

The primary purpose of this initiative is to restock the European arsenals that have been exposed by Russia's war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The countries' defense ministers signed a letter to reaffirm their commitment to the initiative on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.

The participants of the initiative have not yet provided further details about it.

European current arsenal includes missiles like British Storm Shadow, French Scalp, and German Taurus.

The Ukrainian government continues to urge its partners to allow strikes deep into Russia using Western weapons.

Ukraine's partners are divided on to what extent Kyiv should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to carry out strikes on military targets in Russia.

Kyiv is still prohibited from using ATACMS and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons for strikes deeper inside Russia.

Kyiv, US arms company agree to set up NATO-standard ammunition production

Ukraine’s state-owned company, Ukrainian Defense Industry (Ukroboronprom), signed an agreement with the U.S. weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman on ammunition production, the Presidential Office said on July 11.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova