Kuleba: Ukraine aims to establish defense industry alliance with West

Ukraine is actively working towards forging a defense industry alliance with Western partners to ensure it continues to get access to the modern military equipment it needs to counter Russian aggression, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on national television on June 12.

According to Kuleba, the Strategic Industries Ministry and Ukraine's state defense conglomerate UkrOboronProm will be part of "a serious international event that will give impetus to the creation of an alliance of defense industries."

The defense industry alliance would be tasked with two primary objectives: ensuring a steady and reliable supply of Western equipment to Ukraine and facilitating the seamless integration of Ukraine's military-industrial complex into the broader Western defense industry, Kuleba said.

Ukraine also needs to begin producing new drones, high-precision projectiles, and other weapons.

"Since the scale of the war is not decreasing, we are receiving more and more (military) assistance, and all this needs to be serviced," Kuleba added.

Some of Ukraine's Western allies have already engaged in collaborative efforts with the country's defense industry, working together to bolster weapon production.

In early April, UkrOboronProm signed an agreement with the Polish Armaments Group to produce 125 mm tank shells.

Poland became the second country with which Ukraine teamed up to produce tank projectiles. The Czech Republic signed a similar agreement in early February.

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The Kyiv IndependentIllia Ponomarenko