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Ukraine approved a state mechanism to export its weaponry on Wednesday, seeking to raise funds in a fifth year of fighting Russia, while saying its own defence needs will remain a priority.
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This year, Kyiv offered its military experience fighting Russia to European and Middle Eastern countries, who are interested in Ukrainian drone and anti-drone technology.
“The government has approved the first transparent mechanism for exporting Ukrainian weapons,” Ukraine’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, adding countries would “be able to purchase Ukrainian weapons and technologies and work directly with Ukrainian manufacturers.”
Last month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was working on defence agreements with around 20 countries.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has relied on its Western allies to supply it with various weapons.
But it has also developed its own technologies, especially in the fields of drones and counter-drone systems.
According to Fedorov, the goal is to “attract international investment without losing the priority of supplying” Kyiv’s army.
“Exports are possible only if the Ukrainian military is guaranteed to be supplied. If the state needs certain weapons, permission may not be granted,” he said.
Ukraine has dispatched its drone experts to various Middle Eastern countries this year but had restricted the exports of its weapons during the war with Russia.
In April, Zelenskyy revealed that Ukrainian military personnel had shot down Iranian Shahed-type drones targeting countries in the Middle East, in his first public acknowledgement of Kyiv’s specialists’ first results in the Gulf region.
“We sent our military experts to the Middle East, including specialists in interceptor drones and electronic warfare. We demonstrated to some countries how to work with interceptors,” he said, revealing for the first time Kyiv’s strategy following the cooperation agreements with the Gulf countries.
Kyiv signed 10-year agreements with three Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where Ukrainian companies will work with local armed forces to protect specific facilities, Zelenskyy said at a briefing during the Iran war.
“My task is to negotiate volumes, services, and types of weaponry,” he stated.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that the talks were under way with Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Later the same month, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine was opening up its arms exports to global markets.
Both Ukraine’s foreign partners and domestic weapons producers have been waiting for Kyiv to open up an arms exports procedure.
Approximately 800 arms producers are currently operating in Ukraine and many of them have ramped up their production to a significant surplus.
According to the most recent reports, Ukraine is now producing over 4 million drones annually and could double that number with sufficient funding.
Domestic arms producers had been asking Zelenskyy for a year to lift restrictions on selling their domestically-produced military-grade equipment, particularly drones, to generate more revenue.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
