Berlin: Ukraine and Germany are starting work on plans for the joint production of advanced drones and other battle-tested defence systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, as Kyiv looks to scale up its more than four-year fight against Russia’s all-out invasion.
“We have proposed to Germany a bilateral drone deal covering various types of drones, missiles, software and modern defence systems. Our teams are starting concrete work,” Zelenskyy said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a visit to Berlin.
Merz said that Germany’s commitment to supporting Kyiv’s war effort is “a very clear signal” to Russia. “We will not waver in our efforts to defend Ukraine,” he said. US-led diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war on its neighbour have recently petered out as the Iran war grips the Trump administration’s attention, although Tammy Bruce, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that Washington “will continue to push for a negotiated and durable end” to the war.
Russia has occupied about 20 per cent of Ukraine so far. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.
Ukraine has the capacity to produce twice as much military equipment as it’s currently deploying, but lacks funding to step up production, according to Zelenskyy. “We simply don’t have enough money,” he said.
A key to unlocking that potential lies in obtaining a promised 90 billion-euro ($106 billion) loan from the European Union. That was being held up by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his impending departure from office after a weekend election could free up the money.
Ukraine needs those funds “urgently,” Merz said. After Berlin, Zelenskyy was due to visit Norway, another important financial and military ally, while defence leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for Kyiv will hold an online meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.
Kyiv is heavily reliant on US intelligence for targeting inside Russia and needs more sophisticated American-made air defence systems to stop Russian missile attacks on its power grid. If the Iran war drags on, it could erode vital US support for Kyiv, Zelenskyy fears.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian army is short-handed, facing around 200,000
troop desertions and draft-dodging by around 2 million people, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in January.