President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the opening of Ukrainian arms sales to foreign markets, but only after domestic needs are met.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the opening of Ukrainian arms sales to foreign markets, but only after domestic needs are met.
«I held a meeting today. The main thing is the production of our weapons. There are clear volumes that our army needs by the end of the year, as well as what is needed for next year and what we should have in our warehouses for defense, to maintain sufficient strength. Of course, this includes sufficient funding for weapons production here in Ukraine, and production together with partners, and the supply to Ukraine of what our partners produce themselves. The deficit in funding for weapons production will be covered from this year, in particular, thanks to the managed export of some types of our weapons,» Zelenskyy noted .
According to the president, thanks to such managed exports, we will increase the production of drones for the front. «We will have finances. Certain types of weapons — and these are modern weapons — we can produce in much larger quantities than we can finance ourselves, and certain types of weapons we already have in much larger quantities than we really need in Ukraine today. An example is naval drones, which the world is counting on and which we have in surplus, as well as anti-tank weapons, some other types,» Zelensky noted.
The first priority, he emphasized, is the front, the provision of our brigades, the second priority is our Ukrainian arsenals, and only the third priority is this kind of managed export.
«Within two weeks, a concept will be presented — three new export platforms. The first platform is for exports and interaction with the United States of America, the second platform is our European partners, the third direction is other partners in the world who are also interested in Ukrainian weapons and from whom Ukraine has received one or another support. It is imperative that they also help us, so that we help them,» the president said.
Now, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian army is convinced, it is Ukrainians, it is Ukrainian companies, the Ukrainian army that have one of the strongest experiences of modern warfare, and this largely concerns advanced weapons and advanced technologies.
«Ukraine will not engage in „armed charity“ and help those who do not care about Ukraine. We are ready to work with those who really supported us, our independence. Of course, there must be reliable export control — so that the Russians and their accomplices do not get access to Ukrainian technologies and our weapons,» the guarantor said.
He added that there is a lot of interest in the world in joint projects with Ukraine for the production of weapons. «There is also a clear demand for our weapons. Accordingly, thanks to managed exports, we will be able to accumulate money for greater production of the things that our army needs,» Zelensky noted.
The president of the Technological Forces of Ukraine association, Vadym Yunyk, previously stated that Ukraine needs controlled arms exports.
Deputy General Director of Ukrspecsystems Andriy Rymaruk complained about the lack of legislative regulation of arms exports both in general and in the recently adopted draft laws on Defence City.
Earlier, the Technological Forces of Ukraine (TSU) association, which unites the largest manufacturers of drones and other technological products, conducted a survey among 35 companies involved in the defense order. 38% of companies reported that more than half of their capacities are currently idle. Only a third of respondents said that the workshops are fully loaded.
